Hidden Heart
by Scarlett1
Summary: A young woman comes into the riders life adn brings her troubled past with her. Which of the riders will find her Hidden Heart?


HIDDEN HEART

HIDDEN HEART

Chapter 1

"Shut up Cody!" Lou McCloud yelled. The irritated girl glared at her fellow rider with as much hate as she could muster with everyone else snickering.

"Sorry Lou. I just thought you would want to know." The blonde rider said sheepishly. "I mean I would want to know if someone in town wanted me to go on a picnic." This caused the young men around him who had stopped laughing begin again. Apparently Cody had heard in town that Elizabeth Andrews, a little red headed girl who couldn't be over 13 years old, wanted to invite Lou on a picnic. The "Lou" she thought was the smallest, male rider for the Pony Express. "She said, now let me see if I get this right, you were the sweetest, cutest boy in the whole territory." He said in a high voice. "I told her that you would be honored. She's coming by tomorrow to get you."

Gritting her teeth she tried to remain calm, but it was no use. The moment she saw Cody's smirk she was filled with anger. "I'm gonna kill you." She screamed and lunged for the rider. Cody ducked out of the way as Kid grabbed for the angry woman. 

Kid held Lou around the waist as she still tried to get at Cody. Buck Cross, who was sitting nearby, grabbed Lou's right hand and Ike grabbed her other hand. It took all three men to control Lou; her anger was that fierce. "Cody," Kid said, his voice strained. "I think that you better tell her the truth."

"What are you talking about?" Cody said innocently. 

"I was there remember." Kid explained. "If you don't tell her the truth we're gonna let her go."

"Fine. Kid you sure know how to spoil a good joke." Cody said sullenly. "Lou I told Elizabeth that you weren't available." He watched as Lou calmed down. She still looked angry but she didn't have that I-am-going-to-rip-out-you-tongue look anymore. "Ya, I said that you had someone back home." Kid, Buck, and Ike let Lou go and she stood stiffly in front of him. Then an evil gleam crept into Cody's eyes. "You should have seen her, I think her heart was broken. Lou you should be ashamed of your--" He didn't finish his sentence because Lou leapt at him again.

"Hey!" Teaspoon Hunter yelled as he rode up to the fight. "Hey-Hey. Lou don't kill him he's got the next ride." 

As Cody jumped up on his horse, Lou began to dust herself off. "William Cody," She said menacingly. "You are lucky Teaspoon came along and you got a ride." 

"Rider Commin'." Buck yelled. 

Jimmy tossed the mochilla to Cody who took off on the trail. "Damn lucky!" Lou yelled and stormed off toward the bunkhouse muttering something about the male gender and livestock.

Tossing a questing look to the Kid, Jimmy dismounted. "Cody was pickin' on Lou again." Kid informed him.

"He had better stop, she likely to kill him one day." Buck said out loud. He turned to Ike who was signing rapidly. "Ya, she almost did this time."

The Kid was the first to notice Teaspoon's pensive face. "What's wrong, Teaspoon?" He asked.

Turning toward the young man he shook his head. "Nothing. Some men showed up in town today. Said they worked for a construction company back east. Said that they were here to build a house. Didn't know whom they were building it for or when the person was going to show up. All they knew was that it was supposed to be finished as soon as possible. They had already been paid in full. It strikes me as a little odd."

The other rider's nodded in agreement. "Where they building it at?" Ike signed. Teaspoon pointed to the horizon in front of them. Sure enough, about a quarter mile away the boys could see a dozen men wondering around on the open land. 

Teaspoon shook his head. "Who is this rich stranger that decided to build a house in my front yard?" He wondered to himself. "I don't like it. Not at all."

Chapter 2

A young woman drove a small wagon across the open plain alone in the dark, a horse walked behind it. She raised her hand and pulled a few loose strands of dark hair behind her ear and clucked her horse on. "We'll make it there before dawn, I'm sure of it." Rayne Kincade said to herself. As she drove the little wagon on she thought about the past couple of weeks and how her life had changed.

Three weeks that's all it had take to turn her life upside down. She had spent her entire life running around the town of Alexandria, Louisiana. The entire area of the Kisatchie Forest was mapped out in her head. That was were she had grown up. Her mom was a working girl at Nelly's an old saloon outside of town. And her father, well she hadn't known who her father was. She played around Nelly's until she was almost eleven, then she was sent to work at a large ranch about fifteen miles out of town. Rayne loved it there; she was still there when it happened.

"Rayne they want to see in the big house." Charlie, one of the stable-hands told her as he came up behind her as she mucked up a stall. "They don't look happy."

"Why would they? After all that's gone on here the past couple of days who would be." She answered, referring to the death of her boss and the head of the ranch. Jeremy Elliot had been sick for a very long time and had past way at the beginning of the week. Dusting off her clothes she walked up to the house, a doorman let her in. She had only been in the house a few times and every time it stunned her. Large rooms with white washed walls and ornate furniture. Inside the study sat the mistress of the house.

Francis Elliot was a frail looking woman of about 45 with graying hair, dressed in blue satin. Delicate pale hands sat folded in her lap and when Rayne entered she motioned for her to sit down in a mahogany chair. As Rayne sat she was greatly aware of how dusty and dirty she was. She ran her hands through her hair in order to try to make herself more presentable. "Miss Kincade, I assume that you know why you are here."

"No, 'mam." Rayne said softly.

Francis gave her a startled look. "Oh, well this is going to be a little more difficult to explain. "As you know my husband has passed on." Rayne nodded. "Though I loved him very dearly I know that he was not the most faithful of men. There were other women in his life. Your mother was one of them." Rayne was noticeably shocked and a tiny gasp escaped her. 

"Then you really didn't know." Francis said then continued. "You are in fact, my husband's child. Surely you had to know, you look just like him." She motioned to a portrait on the wall.

Rayne stood and walked over to the painting. She studied the man who was her father. Maybe they looked a little similar but it could have just been a coincidence. No it couldn't be true. Jeremy Elliot couldn't be her father. He was one of the most powerful men in Louisiana. 

Quickly every encounter that she had with Mr. Elliot washed over her. He had been kind to her but not overly so. There had been that time that she had missed that jump and flew off the horse. The horse balked and Rayne was thrown over the top of it. Mr. Elliot was standing over her when she woke up. Rayne had thought that she was going to get yelled at for jumping the horse but Mr. Elliot just smiled at her and said. "Next time move with the horse not without it. You're a tough kid."

"I mean no disrespect 'mam." Rayne said as she turned back toward Mrs. Elliot. "But are you sure?"

"Positive. Child you have his eyes." Rayne looked at Mr. Elliot's gray eyes in the picture. They looked like hers a little.

"It's like he's looking out of you." Francis' eyes softened only for a moment. "How do you think that you came to work here? Jeremy wanted to look after you. He was afraid for you growing up with that trampy mother of yours."

Rayne gave the older woman a harsh look. "Mrs. Elliot please leave you're idea of my mother out of this." Rayne hadn't spoken to her mother since the day she left Nelly's. But she still felt that she should be loyal to the woman who gave birth to her. "Why are you telling me this now?"

"A woman doesn't like to be reminded of her husband's indiscretions, Miss Kincade. You are a walking reminder. I allowed you presence here because Jeremy seemed fond of you. God knows he gave you more attention than he did any of his other children. He gave you that stupid horse and that loud dog and made sure that no one ever touched you. Why I'll never know? You are an ugly runt of a thing compared to Jaclyn and Mary." She said talking about her two daughters. Her voice raising with anger.

"She letting her anger control her." Rayne thought to herself. "It's weak."

"I told Jeremy before he died that you would be asked to leave when he was gone. Jeremy understood and has set up a house for you along with some money. He left _you_ some of our money." Disgust dripped from every word she said. "You will be out of here by nightfall. Collect your things and go. Here is a letter with directions telling you were the house is. Do not set foot in this county again. If I were you I would stay out of Louisiana as well. Take that damn horse and that damn dog with you, they were gifts from Jeremy. You are dismissed."

Shocked. Rayne couldn't move. Her first thoughts were to ask the woman what authority the woman had to kick her out of an entire state but she thought better of it. She looked back at the portrait of her newfound father and then back at Mrs. Elliot turned and walked silently away. 

When she walked outside a cold nose brushed her hand. She reached down to rub the top of Yona's head. She looked at her dog as if for the first time. The large black dog stared up at her. Rayne remembered getting Yona as a puppy, one of the other stable hands had said he found it. The dog took to her instantly and from that moment she was never far from Rayne. Jeremy Elliot had given Yona to her, maybe not directly, but he had given the dog to her. 

Now she was supposed to leave the place that had been her home for the last seven years. Instead of the feeling of sadness that she expected, Rayne felt relief. She was going to be on her own and was looking forward to it. She didn't have any ties here.

It took a lot less time to collect her things than she had though it would have. Charlie had hitched one of the large draft horses that roamed over the grounds to a wooden wagon. Rayne loaded it in about an hour. Then she walked into the stable and looked at the horse that she had just inherited. 

Loki snorted at her approach. She smiled and rubbed his long neck. It seemed as if she was outside herself as she watched her attached the lead on Loki's halter and led him outside. Securing him to the back of the wagon she turned toward the people hat she had been working with for the past seven years. There were no tears in her eyes as she said her good-byes. 

Climbing up on the seat of the wagon she gave a shape loud whistle and a Yona jumped on the back of the wagon. She clucked her tongue and drove off into the night, never looking back once. 

She passed by Nelly's for some odd reason. Nelly's son told her that her mother left a few years ago with a gambler and he hadn't heard from her since. It seemed a fitting end to her life in Louisiana. The letter from Mrs. Elliot told her that he had arranged a house for her in a little town in Nebraska and gave her directions to the town.

Rayne closed her eyes and saw a house on the horizon. That was it her new home. For whatever reason, Mr. Elliot had chosen this town, Sweetwater, this town was her new home.

Teaspoon woke up early and walked outside to look at the house in the distance. The workers had finished it almost a month ago. It turned out to be a nice little two-story house with a barn on the side. But no one had ever arrived to move into it. He was surprised to see a wagon next to the barn. Someone had arrived to live in it. Strange they had arrived in the middle of the night and not on the stage has he had expected them to do. In the distance he heard a horse approach. A large red sorrel horse galloped up to the little house and he watched the girl on its' back dismount.

Before she unloaded her wagon, before she checked out the house, Rayne unhooked the Beau, somewhere along the trip she had decided to name the brown draft horse. She saddled Loki and went for a ride. She flew up and down the flatland around her, laughing. Freedom, it was an amazing thing. No one was telling her what to do or how to do it. For the first time in her life something was hers, this land was hers. It was a dream come true.

When she dismounted she just stood and felt the cool morning air around her. Loki nudged her shoulder she turned and petted him. Then she ran a little farther away and Loki followed. She ran again and then again Loki followed. Yona barked and ran with them. Rayne fell down on the ground and sighed with joy. 

Watching from his spot on the porch he was surprised at their new neighbor. He couldn't tell how old she was but it was definitely a woman. Maybe she wouldn't be the stuck-up neighbor he had pictured. 

Chapter 3

"Come on Jimmy." Cody yelled to his friend. It was after lunch and all the chores were finished so Cody suggested that they go to visit their new neighbor. He had been raring to go ever since he had heard that it was a girl.

"I'm coming." The dark-haired man yelled back. 

"I don't see what the big deal is. Yesterday all of you were complaining because the house was so close and today you're all fired up to great them just because it's a girl." Lou said. 

"You wouldn't." Cody said quickly.

Rachel had told a few of them to go and invite the neighbor to dinner; she had said that it would probably be better than the entire pony express ridding over there at one time and scaring her. Cody volunteered immediately. After him Buck announced he wanted to go and then Jimmy and Ike after him. Lou said that she would go to keep the four boys in line because in truth she was a little curious about the woman, who had seemed to be living in alone; surely she had family on the way. Rachel laughed. "So only Kid and Noah aren't going. I'm glad that you all aren't riding over there."

"Bout time. We were fixing to leave without you." Cody said and Jimmy mounted his horse. Jimmy rolled his eyes.

Rayne got a couple of hours of sleep in during the morning and now she was trying to straiten out the barn so she could put Loki and the Beau in their stalls, right now both horses were tied up behind the barn. The barn wasn't huge but it was big enough for everything that she would need. She walked out to the wagon to get Loki's saddle and brought it back to the barn and hung it in the tack room. 

"She doesn't seem to be home." Buck said after Cody knocked on the door for the forth time.

"Where else would she be?" Cody exclaimed. 

Ike signed quickly. "Ike says that we could check the barn." Buck informed them.

Lou, Jimmy, and Ike walked toward the barn while Cody and Buck went around to the back of the house. A loud whinny got Ike's attention and he changed direction to find the horse that had made the noise, Lou followed. Soon they came upon a giant brown draft horse and a sorrel horse tethered to the barn. They approached it slowly Ike extended his hand and tried to get closer to the horses.

The draft horse accepted Ike's gentle patting and rubbed his head along Ike's shoulder. The red horse was another story. It tossed it's blond mane and stared at Ike. Lou could see that the horse was tense, it's muscles moved under its shiny red coat. The horse didn't seem to calm to Ike, which was unusual. It let out a distressing cry and stomped nervously flipping the long tail in a show of agitation.

Yona growled by her side alerting her to danger. Rayne drew the 36.Colt Dragon at her side and then heard Loki cry. "Horse thieves?" Rayne wondered out loud. "There is no way some one is trying to steal my horses the first day I move in. That can't be a good sign." Silently she moved closer to the door. Yona growled again. She silenced the dog with a look. Before she could get to the door she heard it begin to creak open. 

Jimmy opened the barn door slowly. "Hello," He called and tried to see if anyone was inside. He walked in to get a better look. He looked around but didn't see anyone; that's when he heard it. A gun hammer cocked behind him. Slowly Jimmy raised his hands.

"Turn around." Rayne held the gun even with the back of the man's head. Yona ran out of the barn as she ordered the man to turn around slowly.

When he heard the voice tell him to turn he obeyed. After all the woman didn't know who he was, he just hoped that she didn't shoot him before he could explain. "Really Cody should be in this mess." He thought to himself. "He was the one who wanted to come so bad." As he turned he tried to explain. "Hey lady, calm down I'm you're neighbor. My name's James Hickok. I ride for the pony express. We wanted to invite you to dinner." 

She heard him tell her what he was doing there and she groaned. "Kincade you idiot. You just pulled a gun on you neighbor." She reprimanded herself. 

"But how do I know he's really my neighbor?" Rayne though to herself. "Be careful." Her inner voice warned her. When he finally faced her she smiled apologetically and lowered her gun, but didn't holster it. "Sorry, but a girl can't ever be to careful."

"It's okay." Jimmy noticed the gun hadn't left her hand, and she had a death grip on it. He looked at the woman's large gray eyes and knew that she didn't trust him. All of a sudden loud barking came from outside and then a scream.

"Yona." Rayne said and ran outside.

"Cody." Jimmy groaned and followed her.

From the moment they found Cody and the dog, chaos insured. Cody was standing on the back steps pointing a gun at the very angry looking dog. Immediately Rayne pulled her gun on Cody trying to protect her dog. Then Buck, Ike and Lou turned their guns on Rayne trying to protect Cody. Only "Wild Bill" remained without a drawn weapon.

"Mister I suggest you put down you gun." She ordered Cody.

"You first." Lou shot back at her.

"Everyone put down their guns." Jimmy shouted.

"Hickok, if I put down this gun that dog is gonna kill me." Cody cried.

"Yona." Rayne barked. The dog returned to the side of her master, still growling at Cody. Cody's gun went slack and Rayne turned hers to the three that were pointing at her. Yona turned his attention toward the people who were pointing guns at her master and glared at them, snarling. 

"Everyone put you guns down." Jimmy repeated. The three other riders began to lower their guns and then the girl followed suit. "This is the neighbor."

Rayne studied all five men. "Five on one. Those aren't good odds." She thought to herself. "Give them a chance maybe they do live around here." She watched as they holstered their guns and did the same with her own but she stood tense and ready.

"As I was saying in the barn, I'm Jimmy. We came to invite you to supper. We live over there." He said and pointed to the way station. 

The men didn't look any older than she was; finally she dropped her shoulders and smiled. "Rayne Kincade." She offered the man her hand and he shook it. "Nice to meet you. Sorry about all that but we'll I guess you could say you startled me. This is Yona. She don't like strangers much." She said patting the top of her dog's head.

Jimmy noticed that the woman wore a man's clothes: brown pants and a white shirt that was yellowed with age. Her boots were old but sturdy. This woman didn't look like she had the money to build her own house. He wondered when her family was coming. His eyes roamed over her and rested on her gun belt, Holstered inside was a Colt Dragon revolver. It was an older gun but it looked like she took good care of it. Jimmy remembered it pointed at his head and remembered how the woman had crept up on him, he hadn't even heard her. Then he remembered the steady hand she had had when raised it at Cody then at the others. He didn't doubt that she could use it. 

He shook his head and smiled. They had known this woman for only a few minutes and already she had pointed a gun at all of them. "Why were they inviting her to dinner?" He thought to himself. At least she can take care of herself until her family gets here. He tried to see what her reaction to all that had happened but her face was unreadable.

Rayne studied the tall man in front of her. His jaw was set in a hard line but he seemed friendly enough. She moved her eyes over him and noticed the Navy Colts at his sides. "Nice guns." She thought to herself. She studied his eyes trying to read his expressions but his face gave nothing away.

Chapter 4

After the woman began smiling everyone relaxed, even Cody, who was still very wary of the dog. One by one the express riders took their turn introducing themselves, sizing up the woman, and getting evaluated by her.

"Buck Cross." Buck said offering his hand. "This is Ike McSwain, he doesn't talk." Buck studied the woman. She was a few inches shorter than he was. Her hair was long and dark brown; it was braided and stopped just above her hips. He wondered about this woman whose dog was named a Cherokee name.

Ike watched the woman's eyes as she shook his hand wondering what he would see in them. Whenever people heard that he couldn't speak they always looked at him with sympathy and nervousness. Her eyes were different. They seemed to swallow her face. Framed by thick, dark lashes they were such an odd shade of blue that they almost seemed gray. Yes, they were gray. Large gray eyes. But what he saw in them shocked him. They were empty of the normal expressions that he expected. Instead he saw nothing; there was no hint that she thought that he was any different from Buck or Jimmy. Ike smiled at her sincerely. 

"Buck Cross, Ike McSwain." She repeated in her head. Watching the two men in front of her she tried to read what their bodies could tell her. Buck was part if not all Indian. He reminded her of Sam Littlefeather, a older Cherokee man that worked on the ranch for a few years. He was the own who, she had thought, had given Yona to her. He was the one that had named Yona, because he said that the dog was going to grow up as big as a bear. Yona meant bear in Cherokee. Buck Cross' face had the same stone look that Sam's face had. 

Buck had said that Ike McSwain couldn't talk but Rayne assumed that he could hear because no one signed for him to understand what was going. As she shook his hand she watched his eyes. They reminded her of a deer's eyes, very soft and warm. She returned his smile with enthusiasm.

Lou offered her hand next. "Lou McCloud." She didn't like this woman too much. After all she had pulled a gun on Cody over a dog. The woman was taller and bigger than Lou was; the boy's clothes didn't hide her shape as they did Lou's. "Just what I need." Lou groaned to herself. "Another useless woman to distract Kid. Why aren't there any ugly women that come to this town? I bet she can't even ride."

Rayne watched the young man in front of her. There was something different about him. At first glance he seemed younger than the others. But with a second look Rayne saw intelligence and maturity in the boy's eyes that didn't fit the body. Also the boy seemed to dislike her. "Probably because I just pulled a gun on his friend."

"William F. Cody." Cody said in his I'm-god's-gift voice. He took he woman's hand and meant to kiss the back of it but she pulled it away before he succeeded. The others around him snickered. She offered her hand again, in an handshake position. Cody reluctantly shook it. The girl's mouth held a hit of a smile and Cody studied her face. She had interesting eyes, a small nose, strong jaw, and pale lips that turned in a natural pout. When she smiled a dimple appeared on her left cheek. She looked like a challenge and Cody loved a challenge.

She couldn't help but smile at the boy's surprise. He was good-looking but odd. "Why would he do that to her hand?" She wondered. She watched his eyes as he leered at her and gave him a puzzled look. "What is wrong with him?" 

"Ms. Kincade," Buck began.

"Rayne." She responded immediately.

Buck smiled. "Rayne. Ike said to tell you that you have a beautiful horse."

"Thank you. He's ornery at times. Did you try to pet him?" Ike lowered his head thinking that he had done something wrong. "You weren't hurt were you?" She said quickly trying to erasure Ike that she wasn't angry.

Ike gave her an odd look and shook his head. He expected her to be angry at him instead she sounded angry at the horse. "That damned horse gets so temperamental. One minute he's your best friend and the next he kill you as soon as look at you. Why I remember one time when he kicked at Sam, like he had never seen him before. And Sam was there when he was born. " She talked as though she expected the boys to understand what she was talking about. "Come on. Let me see if I can get him to behave."

Rayne and Ike walked toward the horses with Buck following. Leaving Jimmy, Cody and Lou behind them. "She isn't a very good hostess." Lou remarked. Jimmy gave her a funny look and Cody glared at her.

"She's perfect." Cody said.

"Cody you think every girl who comes into town is perfect." Lou shot back. 

Jimmy didn't stay around and listen to them any more. He just followed Buck and the others. By the time he got there Rayne had gotten her horse under control. He listened to her tell Buck and Ike about the horse. 

"I've had Loki since he was born." She said as she rubbed the horse's neck. The horse batted his head against her shoulder and she looked at the animal with soft eyes. "He's just a big baby. Probably my fault, I spoil him."

"I haven't seen a horse quiet like him." Buck said. 

Rayne turned and gave Buck a stunning smile. "There isn't another one like him. His daddy was pure Arabian and his momma was part Thoroughbred. You ought to see him run. It's like he's flying." She rubbed Loki's nose. 

"We better be getting back to the house." Lou's voice said from behind them.

"You'll join us for supper won't you?" Buck asked. 

"Ya, sure." Rayne said after a moment of thinking. 

"See you then." Cody said suggestively. Rayne gave him an odd look as the other's said their good-byes. 

"Sorry about back in the barn." Rayne told Jimmy when he said good-bye last. 

He smiled at her. "Don't worry about it. See you later."

Shaking her head in disbelief, she watched them ride away. She never expected to meet anyone this quick, let alone people her own age. Now she went to the task of unloading her things from the wagon and finishing up in the barn. 

The boys had been talking about Rayne ever since they had left her home. Lou was getting sick of it. "When do you think that her family is coming in?" Ike signed.

"What makes you think that she has any family?" Cody responded.

"Well, she can't be living there on her own. How could she afford it, for one? And who will take care of her?" Lou said.

"Maybe she is taking care of herself?" Buck said quietly. "The house wasn't very big and she didn't say anything about anyone coming."

"She can't be living there alone." Lou told him.

"Why not?" Buck shot back.

Lou didn't have anything to say. "Just cause," was her only response as she rode in front of them. "It wasn't fair." She thought to herself. "A new girl moves in around here and all of a sudden I disappear. I get so sick of being one of the guys sometimes I could just throw up. If I had money I could afford wear pretty dresses like the girls in town. But this one. She dresses in boy's clothes like me. Why is she so special?" Lou jumped of Lightning's back and walked into the barn. She passed the Kid on the way. 

"Hey, Lou. Did you see her?" Kid asked cheerfully.

"Ya, I saw her. Ya she's wonderful. And if you go any where near her I'll shoot you." Lou said harshly.

Kid was confused but he was a little happy at Lou's display of jealousy. At least it meant that she cared.

Chapter 5

"Rider comin'." Kid yelled as a giant red horse came into view. Cody ran out of the bunkhouse and stood beside Kid as the rider approached. "Nice clothes, Cody." He commented to the rider next to him who had put on the nicest clothes that he had. 

"I'm just trying to look my best." Cody said as he straitened a small black tie.

Rayne rode up and saw the blonde man, Cody, she thought and someone she had never seen before. When she pulled Loki to a stop she noticed the man she didn't know gazing at the horse appreciatively. Yona, who had been running beside the horse, growled at Cody. The man took a step back. "Yona." Rayne ordered the dog back.

"Howdy, 'mam." Kid said to the woman as Cody reached up to help her down.

She looked down Cody who held his hands up to help her down. Rayne gave him an odd look. "'Scuse me sir. I can't get down with you right there." Kid snickered as Cody moved away reluctantly and the woman hopped down off her horse. 

"I'm the Kid." He said holding out his hand.

Raising her eyebrows in surprise at the unusual name; she returned his handshake. "Rayne Kincade. Am I early?"

"No, not at all." Cody said giving her an enchanting smile, which she returned crookedly.

"Where do you want me to put my horse?" 

"I'll take it." Kid offered. When he stepped toward Rayne to take the reigns from her the dog put itself in front of Kid and growled. Kid took a step back.

"Yona," Rayne said warningly. "She doesn't like strangers."

"So I noticed."

"You can put him in the barn. I'll show you where." Cody exclaimed brightly and led her to the barn.

When the pair entered the barn Noah greeted them. He smiled at the newcomer and shook her hand when Cody introduced him. "Rayne Kincade allow me to introduce you to Noah Dixon. Noah this is Miss Kincade."

"Rayne, please." She smiled as she studied him. The man was a handsome man and from the way he stood she guessed he was a proud man. A long coiled whip hung at his side, but no gun. He smiled at her friendly but his eyes were wary.

Noah watched Cody led the woman to an empty stall she could put her horse in. It looked as if the blonde rider had already staked his claim to her. But Noah noticed something he wondered if Cody picked up on. Every time Cody put his hand on her to guide her somewhere she found an excuse to move away. Cody offered to help her remove the saddle and she declined, instead she left the saddle on the horse. As they walked back toward Noah, Cody offered Rayne her arm but she didn't seem to understand and she just walked beside him. 

Cody did notice the little oddities about their guest. When she was introduced to Teaspoon and Rachel she regarded them in the same friendly yet reserved way. The dog, that hadn't left her side and as far as Cody could tell hadn't stopped growling, was ordered to stay outside. It reluctantly sat down by the door.

They walked into the house and all them men paused and put there hands on their guns, instantly Rayne's hand went to her own gun. "What is this?" She wondered as she took a little step back toward the door.

Only Jimmy seemed to notice how tense Rayne had become. "We take our guns off before we eat." He explained quietly.

She gave him a confused look and watched as the other's removed their guns and then very slowly followed with her own gun. When she hung it up she seemed almost reluctant to let it go. She gave a wishful look to the outside as if she wanted to make a break for it and let go of her gun.

But, Jimmy wasn't the only one who had noticed the girl's odd behavior. Rachel gave Teaspoon a worried look over the other's head and saw the same look in the older man's eyes. Mentally Rachel moved the spot she had set for the girl to one of the end seats. "Rayne, you sit right over there by Jimmy." She said and pointed to the seat on the end of the bench that was on the side of the table that faced the door, ignoring the angry look Cody shot her. Rachel knew that Cody had wanted the girl to sit in between him and Ike on the other side. Something told Rachel that the girl would just be uncomfortable there. 

Rayne smiled gratefully at Rachel when she pointed out the set. She was afraid that she was going to be sitting in the seat that the blonde man was steering her too in the middle of the table with her back to the door. Cody must really like new people she though to herself because he hadn't left her side since she got there. Rayne took her set at the end of the table next to Jimmy. Next to her, at the head of the table, Teaspoon shot her a reassuring look. She tried to give him a polite smile but didn't succeed. Her eyes rested longingly on the gun belt on the wall and then drifted down to where Yona watched her trough the screen door. The dog snarled and bared its teeth letting Rayne know that if she need her, the dog would be through the screen door in a second. Giving the worried dog a small smile she turned her attention back to the meal and tried not to think of how bare she felt.

Chapter 6

The dinner was enjoyable. As it progressed Rayne became more and more relaxed; accepting the barrage of questions that was thrown at her. They had looked surprise when she told them that she didn't have a family that would be joining her. Rachel was a kind woman and Rayne felt at ease around her. When Cody had begun to, as how Rayne could afford the house she lived in, it was Rachel how silenced him with a look. Buck had asked her how Yona had got her name and she told them that story, leaving out the part about Mr. Elliot's hand in it. The only time that Rayne had even tensed was when Rachel, who Rayne had learned spent some time in Louisiana, asked about where she lived before she moved here. She was afraid that Rachel would link her to Jeremy Elliot and want to talk about the man that Rayne was trying to ignore. Rayne didn't want to remember anything about Jeremy Elliot. After pausing for a moment Rayne said that she worked on the Belle Fille, the name of Jeremy Elliot's ranch, of curse leaving out whom the ranch belonged to.

"Where exactly was the Bella Fille?" Rachel asked, for some reason this girl felt familiar to her even though Rachel was sure she had never seen her before.

"'Bout fifteen mile south of Alexandria." She answered quickly.

"Is that were your parents are?" Buck questioned.

Without so much as a second thought Rayne answered, "My parent's are dead." Ignoring the sympathetic looks and apologies Rayne thought about what she had said. It wasn't a totally lie, her father was dead and her mother might as well have been. Rayne turned her attention back to the stories the riders were telling and found that she was laughing along with them. 

Teaspoon watched the girl as they rose from the dinner table. Throughout the dinner she had been friendly, smiling and had even laughed a few times but she never seemed totally at ease. She held her back ridged when Rachel had questioned about her past and as much as she told them he still felt like he knew little about her. Teaspoon wondered what kind of trouble she was in. They group walked outside and put their guns back on. He wasn't sure but Teaspoon thought that he saw a look of relief was across the woman's face. 

"That was a good meal, Rachel." Rayne began. "It's been along time since I've had home cooked food." Yona stood quietly at her mistress' side watching the crowd around her. Ike ran to retrieve Rayne's horse from the barn. She watched him and prayed silently that Loki would behave himself. "Thank you for having me over."

"You are welcomed anytime." Teaspoon said warmly.

Cody walked toward Rayne tried to stand by her but Yona kept getting in his way. He saw Jimmy who was leaning on the railing of the post snicker at him. Cody noticed that Jimmy wasn't any farther away from Rayne then Cody was but the dog didn't pay him any mind.

Jimmy gave a low whistle and caught the dog's attention, he held out an old soup bone for the dog. Yona walked toward the bone and eyed it warily. Then she turned her head to Rayne as if to wait for permission. Rayne nodded and then smiled at Jimmy. Slowly the dog sniffed at the bone but wouldn't take it. Jimmy sighed and dropped the bone on the ground and pretended to look away. Yona stealthily picked the bone up off the ground and began to chew on it. Jimmy gave the dog a smile and turned away.

Ike waked up with Loki and Rayne breathed a sigh of relief. The giant horse walked behind him like it was the most natural thing in the world. Rayne shook her head and muttered "Crazy horse." So no one could hear her. She took the reins from Ike and stood next to the horse as she was thanking Rachel again she noticed Lou glaring at Kid. Lou had been quiet for most of dinner and Rayne was surprised to see that much anger in the young man's eyes. 

Kid gazed at the horse. Rayne who was standing beside it looked dwarfed by its size. Only once had Kid seen a horse that looked as powerful as Rayne's horse did. With a dreamy expression on his face he remembered the summer he was 8 and a circus had come to his town. The circus held a parade through the streets and the lead horse was a regal black horse. Kid hadn't paid attention to the rest of the parade, instead all he could think about was that black horse. The next day Kid had gone to the circus grounds to look for the black horse. When he finally found it was so awestruck that he didn't even noticed the woman that had come up behind him. At first when the woman tapped him on the shoulder he had thought that he was in trouble. Instead she asked him if he wanted to pet the animal. Kid nodded furiously.

Flower was the horse's name and he was as gentle as a kitten. The woman had picked up the eight-year-old boy and set him on the animal's back. It was heaven for Kid. The woman told him that the horse was an Arabian and it had come from the other side of the world. Everyday, until the circus left, Kid would come and see Flower. When the circus left taking Flower with them Kid had cried for an hour.

Lou saw the Kid's dreamy look thought that it was for the horse's master rather than the horse. A huge ball of anger coursed through her. She glared at Kid and then turned to meet the eye's of the woman that held Kid's attention.

Rayne turned her attention from Lou to the Kid. She saw the Kid gazing at the horse admiringly. Absentmindedly she reached up and stroked the horse's neck, as she turned her attention back to Lou. When she caught Lou's eye it was as if a cloud lifted off Rayne's eyes. It was with anger that Lou was staring at her, the kind of anger that only could be caused by jealousy. Lou was a girl. It all made since now, but a whole new batch of questions entered her head. "Why did this woman dress like a boy?" "Why was she so angry at Rayne?" "Did she mistake the look Kid had given Loki as for her?" Impulsively, as she did almost everything Rayne asked Lou a question. "Lou, I have to go into town tomorrow. Would you mind coming with me? I'm afraid I don't know my way around very well."

Everyone turned to see Lou's surprise face. Here she was glaring at the woman and Rayne had just asked her to accompany her to town. No way. She wasn't going to go. But for some reason her mouth didn't work. 

Rachel seemed to sense Rayne's understanding and supplied and answer for her. "Lou would love to go. Tomorrow before lunch."

"Sounds good." Rayne smiled at Rachel. Woman's intuition told her that Rachel knew that Rayne knew. "Okay well. See you tomorrow." She mounted her horse. "Good-bye." Rayne gave a whistle and Yona followed her as they rode away leaving a chorus of good-byes behind them.

It was still a few moments before Lou could speak again. "I ain't going." She said as she stomped away. Rachel smiled at the retreating woman. Lou was going to go if Rachel had to drag her herself. Lou needed another woman her own age to talk to and hopefully Rayne would be it.

The boys retreated to the bunkhouse talking amongst themselves. Teaspoon turned to Rachel. "What do you think of the girl?"

"I like her."

"But-"

"I don't know. There's just something about her that I can't put my finger on."

Teaspoon nodded. "I know. She ain't very trusting is she?" He thought about he way the girl's eyes kept looking back toward her gun and how she never seemed to reveal anything about herself. Something in her eyes reminded him of a wild animal. No matter how nice you were to it, no matter how much food you gave it, no matter how much you cared about it, it was still a wild animal.

"No, she's not. But what woman who is alone can afford to be." Rachel said. The feeling that she knew Rayne hadn't gone away. There was something familiar about her. It was as if Rayne's gray eyes were haunting her saying "Remember me."

"I'm gonna hit the hay." Teaspoon said. 

  
"Me too." Rachel agreed.

"I can't believe Lou's stealing my girl." Cody said exasperated. "Of all people Lou." 

Across the room from her bunk, Lou gave Cody a deadly look. "Go to hell, Cody"

"Leave her alone, Cody." Kid said quietly.

"Ya," Buck chimed in. "Rayne didn't pay any more attention to you than she did to the rest of us."

"In fact I think she paid less attention to you." Noah teased his friend.

"She's just playing hard to get. And besides, it don't matter I saw her first."

Ike signed to the group and Buck laughed. "Ike says, no you didn't. He says that Jimmy saw her first."

Jimmy smiled. "I guess she's mine then."

"Hickok, you wouldn't dare." Cody said menacingly. The group of rowdy boys began a playful fight, no one noticed that Lou had turned over toward the wall and lay there quietly.

A large tear rolled down Lou's face; she brushed it way angrily. "Doesn't anyone realize that I'm here too?" She wondered another tear fell.

Kid stood up and rubbed Lou's back. He knew that she was upset and embarrassed but he didn't know what to do. He was angry at Cody for upsetting her and angry at Rayne for embarrassing her. 

"Leave me alone, Kid." Lou said. She felt betrayed by him. 

He gave a defeated sigh and laid down on his bunk. After a few moments he yelled at the others to shut up and then went to sleep. 

Chapter 7

"Why did I have to come?" Lou asked the sky as she rode to Rayne's house. "Why didn't Cody do this he's the one that likes her?"

"Because Rayne asked you to join her." Rachel reminded her earlier that day.

Lou dismounted and went to knock on the front door. No one answered. "Where is she? I ain't got all day."

"I'm right here." A voice said from above Lou. Lou turned her head to see Rayne sitting on top of Loki smiling at her, Yona standing next to the horse. "You ready."

"Ya." Lou said harshly and got on her horse. She didn't return Rayne's friendly smile. Both women rode toward the city silently with Yona following.

"You don't like me too much, do you Lou?" Lou remained silent. Rayne raised an eyebrow in her direction. "Why?" Still, Lou reminded silent. "Is it because you think that I'm gonna move in on your boy, Kid?" Rayne laughed at Lou's shocked face.

"Wha-? What are you talking about?" Lou sputtered.

"Lou. Why do you dress like a boy?" 

"How? What? How did you know?" Lou finally got out. 

Rayne laughed. "Well, for one you were way to mature to be a boy our age." Lou laughed. "Two, you looked at Kid like he was the only man in the room." Lou blushed. "And three, you hated me for no good reason and only a woman does that."

Lou looked at Rayne and for the fist time gave the woman a genuine smile. Then she remembered the way Kid and the others talked about her and Lou's smile left. "What do you want with the boys?" And by "the boys" she meant Kid.

"What?" Rayne asked surprised. "I don't want nothing with anyone. Why?"

"No reason." She said hurriedly.

"You worried about the Kid?"

"No, what are you talking about?" Lou asked.

Rayne laughed heartily. "What's so funny?" Lou demanded.

"Well, all the while you were looking at Kid like he was the only man in the room, he was looking at you like you were the only woman in it. I think the only time he stopped looking at you was when Ike brought Loki out. But trust me Kid really ain't Loki's type." She said as she rubbed the horse's neck. The horse looked back as if he knew Rayne was talking about him. 

Lou tried to glare at Rayne but she couldn't help but laugh. By the time that the girls reached town they were on the way to becoming friends. Lou noticed the woman beside her stiffen as they walked through the town. People were staring at the stranger in front of them. "Hey Rayne, people in this town are good but nosy." Rayne nodded to the shorter woman but her lips remained in a firm line. 

William Cody had never finished his chores in such as short time. He rushed through them and then ran to Teaspoon. "Teaspoon I'm done with everything can I go with Jimmy and Noah."

"What? Oh-I guess if they don't mind?" Teaspoon said slowly with a raised eyebrow.

"Great." He gave Teaspoon the patented Cody smile and then ran to Jimmy who was saddling his palomino. "Jimmy I'm going with you."

"Why?" The cowboy gave his friend an odd look then he remembered. "You're going 'cause Lou and Rayne went into town aren't you? Geeze- Cody give it a rest."

"Jimmy you can not stop true love."

"It's not true love. She doesn't know you're alive." Noah said from behind him.

"What do you know?" Cody finished saddling his horse and got on, Jimmy and Noah followed his led. "Why are we going again?"

Noah shook his head. "I ordered new gloves and Tompkins said that they would be in this week. We're going to pick them up." The three rode into town.

Lou showed Rayne the town and introduced her to a few people. Then Rayne told Lou that she had to go to the bank. Yona was told to stay outside and the dog walked next to her mistress' horse and sat down. Rayne walked up to the teller and immediately the bank manager came out of his office and ushered the woman back with him. Lou waited for a few minutes before Rayne came back with a dazed look on her face. Then she asked Lou if Lou wanted lunch.

Rayne was in shock. That was all that there was to it. Complete and total shock. Jeremy Elliot had left her enough money to take care of her for five lifetimes. Lou and Rayne walked into the saloon to grab a bite to eat. "Rayne, you okay?" Lou asked after they ordered a couple of sandwiches.

"Ya. Uh- sorry. Just some interesting news." 

They sat and ate talking about little things. Rayne told Lou a little about working on the Belle Fille. She told about Sam Littlefeather and Charlie. Lou told Rayne about how difficult it was be the only girl in a group full of boys. "Belle Fille? What does that mean?" Lou asked.

"It means beautiful girl in French." Rayne said absently.

"What kind of guy names his ranch "Beautiful Girl"?" 

Rayne stared into the distance. "I really didn't know Mr. Elliot that well." She shook her head. "Can I ask you something?" Lou nodded. "Is there something wrong with Cody, he seems a little off to me?"

Lou looked stunned and then laughed. "No. That's just Cody."

They finished their meal and walked over to Tompkins' store. Rayne said that she needed to get a few things. When they walked up to the store in Lou was surprised to see Jimmy, Noah, and Cody's horses outside. Again Yona waited outside with the horses as the girl's went in. 

Noah saw the girls first and nodded at them. Lou smiled and walked toward him as Rayne went to look around the store. She pushed her hat down and let it hang from her neck. Looking around the store she realized that she needed more things that she had ability to take home. "I'm gonna have to bring Beau and the wagon back here." She thought to herself. Her head was down in concentration as she tried to make a mental list of all she needed. Rayne wasn't watching where she was going as she was thinking and before she knew it she ran into what she thought was a wall. When she looked up and saw that the wall was wearing a jacket she began to apologize. "I'm sorry, sir. I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Don't worry about it." A familiar voice came from above her. "Hey Rayne."

Rayne looked up to see Jimmy's smiling face. "Hi Jimmy. What are you doing here?"

"Noah came to get a pair of gloves that he ordered and Cody and I came with him." He explained.

"Cody's here too?" She questioned looking for the blonde rider. When Cody was around he always seemed to be staring at her with and expression that Rayne didn't understand, it made her feel a little uncomfortable.

Jimmy wasn't quite sure why but Rayne's interest in Cody seemed to annoy him. "He's over there if you want to go talk to him." He said pointing to a group of girls that seem to have gathered around the talkative blonde rider.

"No, I would rather stay over here." She said a little too quickly and Jimmy smiled at her. "Well I'm gonna look around some more."

Lou walked up to Jimmy. "Hey." She said. "Whatcha looking at?"

He held up a bottle of leather oil. "So how you and Rayne getting along. I heard you arguing with Rachel about coming today."

"Turns out. Rayne knew about me. She wanted to know why I did it, that's why she wanted me to come." Lou said. "I ain't sure how she knew though. But it's kinda nice to have another woman to talk to. She ain't so bad once you get to know her."

Rayne walked up to the counter to talk to the man that ran the store. Noah introduced her. She and Mr. Tompkins made arrangements for Rayne to stop by tomorrow and get everything that she needed. 

"You gonna be able to get it all back by yourself." Tompkins asked the new girl. 

She gave Mr. Tompkins an odd look. No one had ever asked her whether or not she could or couldn't do something. And she found that she didn't like the innuendo that she couldn't handle a simple task. "Of course I can take care of it."

"If you need help Rayne, I'm free tomorrow." Cody said from behind her.

Another one that thought she was incompetent. "Thank you Cody but as I told Mr. Tompkins I can take care of it." She said with some edge to her voice.

Cody wasn't sure why Rayne was speaking to him with such hostility but Lou understood. Ever since the boys found out that she was a girl they always seconded guess her ability to handle things. It was aggravating. 

They all left the store together and walked to where the horses were tied up. Yona studied the approaching people with a steady eye. She was beginning to learn that these people were okay. Rayne rubbed the top of the dog's head and gave it a piece of jerky she had bought in the store. "I guess we head home now." She said. 

The five young people mounted their horses and began to ride through the town. When they passed the saloon one of the working girls that lived above it called down. "Rayne?" "Rayne Kincade?"

"Who is it?" Rayne said looking around trying to find out where the voice had come from.

"Up here." 

Rayne looked up and her face broke into a huge smile. "Tilly is that you?" But the woman was gone. Rayne leapt from her horse and walked toward the saloon. It only took a few seconds for a older, blonde woman to come out of the saloon. She approached Rayne slowly.

"Baby Rayney. I would recognize you anywhere with those eyes. Look at you." The woman said as she walked toward the younger woman. "I ain't seen you since you were a little girl and now look at you all grown up."

"Tilly." Rayne exclaimed. "How you been?" 

The riders didn't know exactly what to do so they just watched the scene in front of them. The woman that apparently knew Rayne was a working girl. Jimmy could tell that at one time she had been a beauty but had passed her prime a while ago. He wondered how Rayne knew this woman.

Tilly reached out to embrace Rayne but stopped. She stared at Rayne with questioning blue eyes. "Still haven't gotten over it have, ya?" She said more as a statement than a question.

"What are you talking 'bout Till?"

"You know girl. Oh well, stand back let me look at you. Jesus girl, you got you mamma' s figure didn't ya. But you still got you're daddy's gray eyes. I thought they would change when you got older. I see you finally grew into those legs of yours. I remember you running around looking like a spindly little colt. You mamma would be proud to see how pretty you turned out." She clasped her hands to her heart. "It's just so good to see you." 

"Tilly you haven't changed a bit. Still the biggest lier I ever seen." 

"Hush your mouth child."

"What are you doing here?"

"You remember Gus?" Rayne nodded. "Well I married the fool. He got a job, playing piano here so here I am. Gave up the life and now I just sing. You better go girl, it was good to see you."

Rayne raised an eyebrow. "What? Why?" She looked around and saw all the crowd they were drawing.

"You can't be seen with me. You know how it is."

"Tilly, when have I ever cared?"

"Bless you child. You did have a heart of gold." She reached out and stroked the girl's dark hair.

"I have to come into town tomorrow. Have lunch with me? My treat." 

Tilly smiled. "Okay. But you get now."

"See you tomorrow." Rayne said as she jumped back on her horse and started down the road. Her head held high as she heard the mutterings from town's people. Lou and the others followed her, silently.

"How do you know Tilly?" Cody asked after they left town. He didn't know the woman first hand but he knew that she sang in the saloon and used to be one of the working girls.

"She's an old friend." Rayne said vaguely and rode on.

Chapter 8

Beau neighed as Rayne approached him. She had just finished her lunch with Tilly and was on her way to Tompkins' store to pick up her groceries. It had been a wonderful lunch; Tilly hadn't mentioned anything about Rayne's parents to Rayne's delight. Instead Tilly told her all the stories that she had heard about the Pony Express riders. It didn't surprise Rayne to learn that Tilly knew quite a lot about them. She told Rayne all sorts of things most of it just romantic gossip. Rayne heard which of the girls in the town liked which of the riders and so forth. She was glad to hear that Tilly didn't know about Lou's secret because for all Tilly's goodness she couldn't keep her mouth shut.

Gus played the piano throughout lunch. It was good to see the older man again. Gus was always a thin, short man but he seemed even smaller now than Rayne remembered. He had aged greatly in the past few years but he had the same kind blue eyes. When he had seen Rayne he hadn't said "hi" or any other salutation, instead he sat down and began to play an old familiar song. Soon Rayne sat down and began playing too. Slowly Tilly began to pick up on the tune and sang softly. Her voice was husky and it fit the song wonderfully. Tilly looked at Gus adoringly as she held the last few notes. 

"Some-one to watch--" She stopped and smiled at her husband. "Over me." 

The couple gazed happily at each other as people applauded behind them. Rayne felt a little out of place but Gus finally turned around and looked at her. "Still got it, Rayney." He said. "Good to see ya haven't forgot Old Gus."

"Never." She said honestly. And she and Tilly had returned to lunch.

Tilly and Gus watched as Rayne crossed the street to Tompkins store. "Can't get over her Tilly?" Gus told his wife. "Who would have though we would have run into Rayne Kincade again? I thought that night that Jeremy Elliot took her away was the last night that we'd ever see her. She turned out to be such a beauty. Favors her daddy a lot though."

"She don't know though." Tilly stated.

"What that she looks like Jeremy?"

"No, that she's a looker. She ain't changed from that little girl we used to know." Tilly thought back to the time that she had spent at Nelly's when Rayne was a little girl. Rayne would spend hours with the older girls trying to do anything to make them happy and it worked. Everyone adored the child, except Abigail Kincade, Rayne's mother.

Abigail Kincade was a shallow woman. There was no doubt that she was beautiful, dark brown hair and big blue eyes. Every man who came into Nelly's wanted her and all the younger girls wanted to be her. Abby seemed to know just what each man wanted from her. For some she was their mother, some their daughter, and some just their woman. Each and every man paid her well to stay with him for as long as she would. She was the only woman that Tilly thought deserved to be a whore. 

When she had heard that Abby was pregnant again Tilly was sure that Abby was going to get rid of it like the others. Tilly remembered the how shocked she was when she heard that Abby was keeping this baby. She had cried for the unborn baby because she knew what life that it was being born too. Why would Abby force that on a child? Then Tilly heard Abby's plan.

Jeremy Elliot had walked into Nelly's one bright summer day and like everyone else was struck by Abigail. To him she was an angel; he saw no fault in her. Abby looked at Jeremy and was also struck. Not by his strong jaw, dimpled smile, or caring gray eyes; no, Abby, was struck by his pocketbook. To Abby, Jeremy Elliot was a walking gold mind. He gave her anything that she wanted all she had to do was mention it. 

Seeing as how Jeremy was a smart man he saw through Abby a little faster than most but it was too late, the damage was done. When Jeremy left Abby she pulled out all the stops. Tears, angry words, blackmail. But nothing stopped Jeremy and Abby's income from walking away. Nothing made him come back until Abby told him she was pregnant with his child.

Tilly remembered the rage Jeremy had been in when he heard that Abby would get rid of the baby if he didn't pay her. Jeremy Elliot had had no other kids then and wasn't about to let Abby harm his first-born. So that was how Abby survived and lived well during her pregnancy. Extortion, pure and simple. Tilly felt so sorry for the man. Every time he delivered the checks he looked worse and worse.

A few weeks before the baby was due Jeremy Elliot had stopped coming by. His new wife found out about Abby and the baby and made Jeremy chose her or them. He chose her. Abby's rage couldn't be controlled. She damned him, damned all men, and most of all damned the baby inside of her. "I'm gonna drowned this thing the moment it's born." She would yell to Nelly. Finally the saloon owner had enough. "Abby when that baby's born if you touch one hair on its head you'll regret it for the rest of your life. I'll make sure of that." Abby stayed quiet after that. No one messed with Nelly.

Rayne came one spring afternoon. It was an easy birth. Jeremy Elliot came to see his daughter the day after she was born. He held her for almost two hours before the baby had to be feed and a wet nurse took her away. As the little girl held on to one of his fingers he knew that she was special and he would do anything for her. Jeremy ushered Nelly, Tilly, and Abby into Nelly's office. He told the women that he would be sending money every month for the child and Abby was to have none of it. Tilly nodded in approval. Abby screamed in disbelief. He would send the money secretly and he didn't want Rayne to know who he was. 

Then he turned and glared at Abby. Tilly had only seen Jeremy Elliot as a kind and gentle man but his wasn't the Jeremy she was used to seeing. A deep hatred shown in his eyes and his mouth was set in a firm line. He walked over to Abby, put his hands on her arms and lifted her up to meet him eye to eye. In a low menacing growl he told Abby, "If you ever hurt that child. I'll kill you." And Tilly didn't doubt him one second. He turned toward Nelly and Tilly. "One day I will come for her and take her with me. Until then keep her safe." Then he walked and kissed the sleeping baby and left. 

As the child grew she was treasure to everyone. Gus taught her to play a few songs on the piano, Tilly taught her to sing, and Nelly taught her to reading, writing, and mathematics. The child caught on to everything and would smile and laugh with everyone. Even most of the gamblers and cowboys liked the child. Some of the regulars taught her how to ride. Rayne had taken to horses like a fish to water. 

She was a gregarious child until her mother was around. Much to the chagrin of everyone Rayne adored Abby. The moment that Abby walked into the room Rayne became a statue, because Abby didn't like for the child to make noise around her. She wouldn't talk or smile, just watch whatever Abby was doing. If Abby happened to be alone, Rayne would follow the woman wherever she went. It was heart breaking to see the toddler try to keep up with the mother that ignored her. When she got older people told her that she was smart or pretty she would just smile and say "Thank you" in a way that showed it was for politeness only. But when Abby said she like Rayne better when she was clean. Rayne had refused to go outside for three weeks. 

The last time Tilly had seen Rayne, until yesterday, was the night that Jeremy came to take her away. Everyone was sad to see her go but so happy to have her away from Abby. They were tired of watching the child died in front of them. 

Tilly smiled at Rayne's retreating form. She had hoped that the time at Jeremy Elliot's ranch had helped the child grow into what she used to be but it didn't look so. Rayne was friendly and talkative. But when Tilly looked into those eyes all she saw was emptiness. Like a part of the girl was shut down. Holding back the tears in her eyes she looked at her husband and he grabbed her hand in support. "She's gonna be fine, Till."

Rayne started loading the wagon with the stuff that she had bought from Tompkins' when Yona growled. She turned around and saw exactly whom she suspected to see. "Hi Cody." She said with a dimpled smile and rolled eyes. 

"Well Rayne Kincade. Fancy meeting you here."

Somehow she knew that Cody was going to show up. As much as he baffled her with his odd ways, there was something abut him. "You knew I was going to be here, Eagle eye."

"Eagle eye? How did you know about that? I see my reputation precedes me." He said smiling.

"I had lunch with Tilly. She knows everything about everyone. I know more about you boys than I ever wanted to." Rayne smiled and her dimple deepened. "Like all the girls that are sweet you?"

Cody was happy because he thought that the young woman was asking about him was a good sign. But when she mentioned all the girls that liked him she got his full attention. "Like who?"

"Well, if I'm not mistaken here comes one of them." Rayne nodded down the street at the young woman who was giving her a dirty look and smiling at Cody like she was a saint. "Ain't that Grace Foster coming this way." Rayne gave the green-eye, brunette a polite smile. 

"Hello Mr. Cody." Grace said and then gasped as the dog that stood next to the woman with Cody growled. The woman reached down to pat the beast on the head.

"Grace." He was shocked. Grace Foster was the prettiest girl in town but she didn't seem to want to give him the time of day. 

"I don't believe I know your friend, Mr. Cody." Grace said sweetly but her eyes didn't match her voice. She knew who this woman was and already didn't like her. The whole town was talking about Rayne Kincade and how pretty she was. Grace studied her competition and didn't see what the fuss was about. Besides the woman wore dingy men's clothing, her hair disheveled, and she traveled with a mangy, ugly dog.

"Rayne Kincade." Rayne saw the way that Grace looked her up and down and wrinkled her nose at Rayne's appearance. But politely she held out her hand, which Grace just stared at as if she was insulted. She gave Grace an angry look.

  
"Grace Foster." The other young woman said with a superior air. "Well, Mr. Cody. I haven't seen you in town in a while. Where have you been hiding yourself?" 

"Cody, I got to finish loading this wagon, why don't you carry that home for Miss Foster." Rayne said looking at the package that Grace was holding. "It looks really heavy." She said sarcastically as she lifted the huge sack of flour in the wagon. Cody didn't know which way was up trying to decide between the two girls. 

Grace locked her arm through Cody's as he took the package from her and shot Rayne a triumphant look. "Nice to meet you Ms. Katon, was it?" 

"Kincade. But don't worry I'm sure it was an honest mistake. It is a very hard name to remember." Rayne said sympathetically. Grace shot her a vicious look and Rayne smiled sweetly.

"We'll see you later. Come along Mr. Cody."

"I'm counting the minutes." Sarcasm dripped from her voice. "Bye Cody," her voice cheerful now.

"Bye Rayne." He said in a confused voice and allowed himself to be pulled down the street. 

It took Rayne only a few more minutes to load the wagon after Cody left. She didn't like Grace Foster one bit. But if Cody wanted to spend his time with her that was his own choice. "Grace Foster isn't the nicest girl in town." A voice said from behind Rayne. "But she is one of the prettiest."

"It's been my experience that whenever a lot of people say that someone has a pretty face it's because that the only thing that's up there to complement." She said as she turned around to face Teaspoon. She was surprised that Yona didn't bark when he approached. 

Teaspoon smiled at the girl. "How ya doin' Rayne?"

"Good. You?"

"Can't complain. Tompkins treat you okay with all this?"

"Ya, except he kept asking if I could handle all this. What does he think I do all day knit?" She said exasperated. "He kept buzzing around me wondering if I was going to drop something."

"That's Tompkins. Are you heading home now?" 

"I was fixin' to."

"What are you doing for dinner?"

"Eatin' it I guess."

Teaspoon chuckled. "You been hangin' 'round Cody to long."

"Naw. Besides he's with Grace. Poor, poor, Cody." She laughed at the though of Cody having to listen to that whiny voice all day.

"You upset 'bout that?" Teaspoon questioned and watched the woman carefully. 

Rayne looked at Teaspoon with a confused expression. "No. Why would I be?"

"No reason." The young woman didn't' seem to be taken with Cody as he was with her. Why don't you come over for dinner tonight?"

"Teaspoon I was just over there the other night. I can't be intruding on ya'lls home all the time. No thank you though."

"Nonsense. You ain't intruding."

"No it's okay Teaspoon. I just spent a fortune on food I might as well start using it." She said shrugging off his invitation and climbing up in the wagon.

"Kincade you ain't arguing with me. If you ain't over at the house at dusk I'll send a few of the boys after ya." Teaspoon said smiling up at her. 

"Fine." She said unhappily. "I guess that if I have to eat more of Rachel's home cooking, I will." 

"See ya tonight." Teaspoon smiled at her sarcasm.

"Bye Teaspoon." Rayne said as she drove off. She was kind of happy she didn't have to cook tonight. Maybe she should bring something but she didn't have anything. As she was wondering what she could take she rode though the town, not paying attention to anything or anyone. Because if she were she would have seen a pair of eyes that followed her all the way through town. 

Oliver Hudson watched as she rode out of town. When he tipped his hat to the woman that was loading her wagon outside of Tompkins' store he hadn't expected to see something like her staring up at him. Dark brown hair, honey colored skin and gray eyes that he seemed to get lost in. He would have stayed right there on that street looking into her eyes for the rest of his life is one of the men behind him hadn't urged him on. Since then he had been watching her out of his window. She talked to a young man that walked away with another pretty young fawn and then the marshal had come up to talk to her. He watched everything that she did. "Who is she?"

"Lieutenant." A voice came from behind the door. "They need you outside."

"I'll be there in a minute." He watched as the girl left his site and gave a regretful sigh. "Who is she?"

Chapter 9

Jimmy watched as Cody sailed through the doorway with a dreamy look on his face. "What's with you?"

He asked his friend.

"I'm in love." He said as he sunk on to his bunk. "She's the most beautiful, wonderful, sophisticated woman alive."

"You sound like you know from experience." Noah stated.

"Oh I do. I just spent the day with the woman of my dreams." He smiled. "Don't you think that she's the most beautiful woman alive. Her skin is so soft. You know she let me kiss her when I walked her to her door. She so perfect." He sighed.

Everyone was silent for a moment and just stood staring at Cody with surprised looks on their face. "You kissed Rayne!" Buck exclaimed. 

"No way." Lou seconded. Jimmy just glared at Cody from his bunk.

"Rayne? What? No, not her, Grace Foster." He said happily.

"Grace Foster? I thought you thought that Rayne was perfect?" Kid said.

"Rayne is nice in her own way. But Grace is amazing."

Jimmy gave his friend an annoyed looked and went outside. He was surprised to see Rayne dismounting in the front yard. Yona barked happily and wagged her tail as Jimmy approached. Rayne looked down in surprise at the dog's greeting. "Hey girl." Jimmy said as he knelt down to the dog's level and held out his hand. 

Yona approached the outstretched hand with caution. It took a few seconds but the dog tentatively smelt Jimmy's hand and then turned her head back to Rayne. When Yona looked at Rayne so did Jimmy. Rayne watched Yona to she what she would do. When the dog turned her attention back to Jimmy so did Rayne. She watched as he stared the dog.

He watched Rayne's eyes as she looked at the dog and then the dog's stare at its mistress. Then when Yona turned her attention back to Jimmy he realize that he was face to face with an animal that could rip out his throat. Yona bared her teeth as if to intimidate him but Jimmy didn't back down. It was at that moment that Jimmy noticed how big the dog really was. When it stood next to Rayne, Yona's head came about the middle of Rayne's thigh. Looking at the snarling dog Jimmy wondered if the dog had some wolf in it because Jimmy could swear that at that moment Yona wasn't just a dog.

She gave one loud bark and then licked Jimmy's hand as if to say that he had passed the test. Flushed with relief he ran his hand over the dog's head and neck. "Hey girl. Good girl." Yona barked happily and ran around him. 

"I think you passed." Rayne said.

"I'm glad. For a minute there I thought she was going attack me."

"She won't attack unless she thinks you are going to hurt me or unless I tell her too." Rayne smiled at him.

"Remind me not to make you mad." He returned her smile. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh," She looked upset. "Teaspoon invited me to dinner. But I can go."

  
"No, why would you go?"

"'Cause he didn't tell anyone I was coming."

"So, we always have room for one more."

  
"Hey Rayne." A voiced called from behind them. Lou, Kid, and Buck walked up to he pair. Rayne nodded hello at them. 

"Rayne's havin' dinner with us." Jimmy said as he smiled down at the woman. 

Dinner was normal. It was as of everyone one accepted the fact that Rayne was just there, not as someone special. They all talked and teased just like every other day. Rayne had only looked over at her Yona and her gun a few times. She smiled and laughed along with everyone. They asked about different part of her life but she always kept her answers rather vague. She just didn't want them to know too much about her past. For some reason she just needed to keep it a secret. 

Rachel watched her boys and Lou around the table; she was amazed at how they had grown over the time that she had known them. Buck had something that made everyone laugh and Rachel saw Rayne laugh. Rayne finished laughing and stared of in the distance. A huge wave of familiarity washed over her. It was that far way that looked that Rachel seemed to know. It was right on the tip her tongue but it wouldn't come out of her mouth. She tried for the rest of the night to place her, but as Rayne rode away she still had no idea.

Chapter 10

Rayne rode Loki into town. She had already made her weekly trip into town but she was so bored she had to get away from her house. In had been four weeks since she had moved to Sweetwater, so far she had white washed the walls in her house, planted a garden in the back and built a fence. It had been declared that Rayne's house was the unofficial escape zone for any of the riders. There wasn't a day that went by when one of the riders didn't stop by. Lou, Jimmy, and Ike were the over there the most, but Rayne had spent a lot of time with each of the riders on a one on one basis. They would come over just to relax and talk. It was nice not being alone all the time.

For the past couple of days she had woken up with almost nothing to do. She swept out he house at least three times, mucked out Beau and Loki's stalls at least twice and weeded her new garden half a dozen. Rayne ordered new curtains and dishes for the house they were supposed to be in next week but she decided just to go head and go into town to see if they were there yet. 

Once a week she would go to town and have lunch with Tilly and Gus. Then she would stop at Tompkins' store, it never failed, he would ask her if she needed help getting all of it home. And after that she would stop by and talk to Teaspoon for a few minutes. That was were she was headed now. She tied Loki in front of the marshal's office and walked in. She noticed that Jimmy and Buck's horses were outside also. 

"Rayne, what are you doing here?" Teaspoon asked when he saw the young woman walk into his office. 

  
"Is everything okay?" Jimmy asked worriedly.

  
She raised an eyebrow at him. They were acting really strange. "Ya. I just ordered some things from Tompkins and I was going to check if they were in. I stopped by to say hi. What's going on?"

Jimmy looked at Teaspoon surreptitiously and then answered quickly, "Nothing much." Teaspoon and Buck nodded in agreement. "But we are kind of in the middle of something."

Rayne looked at them. She hadn't missed the look that Jimmy gave Teaspoon. "Okay. Well I'm gonna go over to Tompkins store see ya'll in a while." She shook her head as she walked toward the door.

"Good idea." Teaspoon called after her. "Come to dinner tonight." Rayne nodded and left. 

"Do you think she thinks anything's going on?" Buck asked.

"Nah. What are we gonna do?" Jimmy asked Teaspoon. The MacMurphy Brothers rode into town last night. Steven, Aaron, Robert and Isaac MacMurphy better know as the Notorious MacMurphy Brothers were known stagecoach robbers. They were wanted in four territories for the murder of 23 people and had taken 5 stages. They killed everyone on the stage and took everything from them. Teaspoon had noticed them as the rode in.

"Well, Jimmy, we're gonna have to arrest them. You, me, Buck and Barnett." Teaspoon explained as he loaded his rifle and started walking toward the saloon. 

"Shouldn't we ask the army for some assistance." Barnett asked as they passed the Army offices.

"That Lt. Hudson said that they had too much on his plate to deal with this. Be careful boys." He said as he entered; the men behind him nodded solemnly.

Robert and Aaron were sitting playing poker in the corner of the saloon. Both were large, fair-headed men that were somewhere in their late twenties. Stephen, the oldest and group's leader sat at the bar. He was also fair-headed, but slightly smaller than his brothers were and more intelligent. Shrewdly he watched the four men enter the building with dark eyes. Isaac the most handsome and youngest really didn't look like his brothers. As dark as they were fair and as wiry as they were thick. There was talk that he was only a half-brother to the rest of the boys. Isaac was a definite ladies man. At this moment he was turning his charm on a young girl that worked at the saloon. Stephen whistled and his brother's turned their head toward the men coming in. "Howdy Marshal." Stephen said with a low southern drawl.

"MacMurphy, you and you brothers are under arrest. Come quietly." Teaspoon said his voice evenly as he raised his rifle to Stephen's chest. When Teaspoon raised his gun the rest of the men did the same and the civilians ran out of the saloon. Isaac grabbed the girl he had been flirting with and turned his gun on her. 

"Don't think so. See if you don't let us go. Isaac over there will put a bullet in that whore's head. You wouldn't want that would you." Isaac giggled maniacally behind them.

Teaspoon looked over and saw the wicked smile on the young man's face and the bloodlust craze in his eyes. "Let her go."

"Can't do it Marshal. Now back up." He raised his gun at Teaspoon's head. "My brothers and I are leaving. You fellas get over here. Buck, Jimmy and Barnett joined Teaspoon by the bar but didn't lower their guns. The MacMurphy brothers began backing out of the saloon with their guns on the four men. Isaac left first his gun still at the girl's neck. Buck moved his gun a little to get a better position on Stephen. "Uh-Uh-Ua. Isaac hears one shot and that girl's history."

"Teaspoon, he gets outa here he's gonna kill her anyway." Jimmy said quietly.

"I know, Jimmy. I know."

Isaac left the saloon and looked toward the horses. They weren't there. "Bobby," He called softly to his brother who was still inside. "Where are the horses?"

"What are you talking about? They're tied up outside." His brother answered.

"No-" He started before he felt the gun at the back of his head.

"Let her go." A voice said close to his ear. "Now."

  
"Isaac?" Robert yelled.

If Isaac wasn't mistaken he heard a woman behind him. "Lower you're gun or I'll kill her." He called back.

"Isaac?" His brother yelled again.

"Isaac, is that your name. Well Isaac if you don't let her go I'll put a hole the size of New Orleans in the back of you head"

"You do that and the bullet will either go through me into her or my gun will go off. Either way she's dead."

  
"Okay well drop you gun." 

"Isaac, what's going on?" Robert called. Something was wrong with his little brother; he just knew it.

Isaac's eyes widened. Did this girl really think he was gonna drop his gun cause she told him to? "No." He said shortly.

"Fine. I'll help." Rayne wasn't sure exactly what was going on. All she knew was Teaspoon, Buck, and Jimmy were inside and these men had guns on them. Isaac held the girl with his right hand because it was stronger, that meant that his left hand was holding is gun. Rayne held her gun with her right hand and pulled a knife with her left hand and quickly jabbed into his left shoulder. 

What happened next lasted only a few seconds but Rayne saw it in slow motion and it seemed to take hours. Isaac screamed in pain and lowered his gun, and then he shoved the girl he held away so he could use his right hand to pull the knife out. Every one turned at the sound of Isaac's scream. Robert ran outside and saw his brother's arm bleeding and a woman standing behind him with a gun. He raised his gun at the woman and started to fire, Isaac was in the way. Isaac dropped to the ground so his brother would have a clear shot but the woman behind him was too quick.

Rayne had turned her gun to the man that ran outside the moment he was out the door. The man waited for Isaac to fall out of the way before he shot and those few seconds were all she needed. She shot him once. As he fell his gun went off a few more times but the bullets flew in different directions.

When the men inside heard the gunfire they immediately started firing. Stephen jumped behind a table. Barnett hurdled over the bar. Teaspoon, Buck and Jimmy scattered in different directions as they fired. Aaron took two bullets in the chest before he had time to move.

Isaac looked into the eyes of his brother that lay in front of him. They were void of life. "Bobby." He whispered sadly, then turned to fire up at the girl. Before he knew what was happening, a monster had attached itself to his arm and was trying to rip it out of the socket.

"Yona." Rayne whispered loudly. The dog released her hold on the man but stared over him growling. Rayne knelt down, one leg on either side of the man's body. The man glared up at her but before he could say anything Rayne hit him as hard as she could across the jaw and he blacked out. Rayne shook her hand trying to get rid of the pain. "Yona, you dumb dog, I told you to stay with Loki." She said as she rubbed the dog's head in appreciation and Yona gave her a doggie smile. 

Chapter 11

"Give it up MacMurphy." Teaspoon yelled. 

Stephen looked at the fallen Aaron. He could see his one of other brother's feet as he lay outside of the saloon. Hatred overwhelmed him. Five shots answered the marshal's question. "Go to hell."

After she punched the man, Rayne moved over to the window and ducked underneath it. From her position the only thing she could see was a man's back but she couldn't tell who it was. Quickly she moved to the other side of the window.

Teaspoon saw a figure move across the window and wondered if the person was on their side or was one of the MacMurphy's.

Now Rayne, could see that the man whose back was to her wasn't one of the boys knew. She raised her gun but the lowered it. Shooting a man in the back was something that only the lowest person would do. When she looked back she saw the man taking aim. He had spotted Buck crouched as close as he could under the stairs. The man was lining up his shot. Still, Rayne couldn't shoot him in the back. So, she did the first thing she could think of, she whistled at him. 

He heard the whistle behind him and knew it wasn't one of his brothers. Turning around, he started firing underneath the window where the person had to be hiding. Stephen got off two shots before he felt the pain in his shooting shoulder. Involuntarily he dropped the gun and grabbed the wound with his other hand. Before he could pick it back up, the gun was shot and it flew across the floor. 

Buck saw the gun fly. "Nice shot." He said to himself. Slowly he saw he person outside stand up with their gun pointed at Stephen MacMurphy. 

"Teaspoon? Boys?" Rayne called to the inside. "Ya'll okay? I got him covered. Were there only four?" She asked nervously looking around trying to see if anyone else was lurking then turned her attention back to the man. 

  
"Rayne?" The marshal called. "That you?"

"Ya." She yelled back. "Where there only four?"

"Ya." Teaspoon yelled back, his jaw on the ground. He saw Buck walk up and hold his gun on MacMurphy. Jimmy looked as surprised as Teaspoon felt.

When Buck got to the man behind the table Rayne gave him a small smile. Then she walked over to the man she had kicked. He was still unconscious but she took the gun out of his hand anyway. The other one she knew was dead. Rayne walked inside the saloon; to do so she had to step over two bodies. When Teaspoon walked up to the girl she looked up and asked "Was anyone hurt?"

"No." He said slowly. 

"Well there's one dead outside and the other's unconscious." She told him. 

Teaspoon stared at the girl. She spoke about the gunfight as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "Barnett cuff that man." He pointed to Stephen, who Buck had gotten on his feet then went out to check on the men outside. One was shot clear thought he heart the other was out cold. 

Rayne turned and watched the man she had shot. She heard Jimmy come up behind her.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" He said lowly.

"What?" She said wondering if she heard him right. He looked down at her with harsh brown eyes. Anger overwhelmed her. Her gray eyes flashed as she glared at him. "Saving you butt, you ungrateful pig."

It didn't matter if she was angry because he was angry too. Rayne had just made and enemy for life in the remaining MacMurphy brothers. What if they escaped before their trial? They would most certainly come for her. "This isn't a game." 

"You're kidding?" Rayne said sarcastically. "I thought that this was just for fun. You mean I don't get a metal. My mistake." 

"Rayne, I'm serious." He said as Buck walked up.

Stephen watched the woman that had killed his brother. She was going to die. The clumsy man that was handcuffing had left his gun on the table. He knocked the man to the ground and grabbed the gun.

Jimmy saw the movement too. He pulled his gun out of his holster and raised it to the man with the gun. Four rapid shot hit the man before he fell. Jimmy only fired two. He looked down to see Rayne with a smoking gun.

"I am too." Rayne said and she holstered her gun and walked out of the saloon. She passed Teaspoon who called out to her to stop, but she didn't. Instead she walked to where Loki was tied, mounted him, and rode out of town as fast as she could. Yona tailing close behind her.

Teaspoon walked inside after he cuffed the unconscious man. "Where'd she go? I need to talk to her." He walked over to where a very dead Stephen lay on the ground. One bullet was right between the eyes and three in the chest. One of those bullets was strait through the Stephen's heart just like the bullet in Robert MacMurphy. "Jimmy where were you aiming?" 

"Right at his chest." Jimmy said offhandedly, still thinking about Rayne. 

"Why?" Buck asked Teaspoon. 

"Go look at Robert and then come look at this." Buck and Jimmy looked at Robert and the shot in his chest and then walked to where Stephen was laying on the floor. "You sure you weren't aiming anywhere particular." Teaspoon asked.

"No, Teaspoon. Just shooting strait at the middle." Jimmy said his eyes wide.

"Jimmy what does Rayne shoot with?" Buck asked.

". 36 Colt Dragon." Jimmy answered.

"Then she did it. Look at the holes in the head and heart. They're smaller than the other two. Jimmy shoots with .44. Rayne shot him right between the eyes and right through the heart. Where'd she learn to shoot like that?" Buck said in awe.

"I don't know but I'd sure like to find out. Why'd she shoot out of here like the Devil was chasing her?" Teaspoon asked as he raised an eyebrow at Jimmy.

"Jimmy yelled at her." Buck told Teaspoon.

"She shouldn't have been here." Jimmy said firmly. "It was too dangerous."

Teaspoon stared at the younger man. He knew that Jimmy was protective of his friends, especially the women friends. And Teaspoon knew were Jimmy was coming from, but he needed to talk to Rayne. "That little girl just took out three fourths of the MacMurphy brothers. I think that she has a few questions to answer. Barnett, take the prisoner to the Doc. That cut in his arm is bleeding pretty badly. Be careful when you cuff him that dog tore his arm up. Tie him to the bed so he don't escape should he happen to wake up." Barnett nodded and walked out the door. "Come on boy's we're gotta go find Rayne."

Oliver heard he series of gun shots. By he time he make it to the window he saw Rayne Kincade walking out of the saloon, her gun in her hand by her side. She haunted his dreams. Every time she walked through the town he watched her. In the weeks since he had first seen her, he had found out everything that he could. Where she lived, that she visited a whore once a week, and that she and the marshal seemed to be friends. She also hung around with the pony express riders. How he hated to see her with them. Whenever they walked through town together he thought he would go crazy with jealousy. Now was his chance. He didn't know what happened but he would go riding up to her like a knight in shining armor. "Sgt. Taylor saddle my horse." He yelled. 

Chapter 12

Rayne made it back to the house in record time. She unsaddled Loki and began to brush him, all the while trying to cool her own temper down. How dare Jimmy yell at her like that. Who did he think that he was? "Ungrateful--" She heard horsed outside. Slowly she walked out to meet them. "What do you want?" She said harshly glaring at the men. Rayne wasn't a stranger to a gunfight. Growing up in a saloon, gunfights were common place. And when she worked on the Belle Fille there were always men trying to steal the horses, she took turns with the rest of the ranch hands guarding the stock. But that didn't mean that she liked them.

"We come to thank you Rayne." Teaspoon began. He knew that this woman was upset and angry. He ignored Jimmy's look of disbelief. The young man's heart's was in the right place. "So thank you."  


"Didn't do anything anyone else wouldn't have done. Just was in the right place at the right time." She said offhandedly. A thank you wasn't what she expected, she had thought Teaspoon was going to yell at her for interfering like Jimmy had done.

"No they wouldn't have." Jimmy said quickly. He didn't want to discredit Rayne's bravery, just to keep her from doing it again. "Did you see anyone else there helping?"

"That's just cause there weren't that many of them." She said trying to throw the attention away from her. She didn't like it when people talked like this, it didn't sound real.

"Do you know who those men were?" Teaspoon asked. Rayne shook her head. "The were the MacMurphy brothers." 

"I heard about them. Heard they robbed stagecoaches from here to Missouri." Rayne answered."

"And you helped stop 'em." Teaspoon said proudly. "I ain't seen shooting like that in a long time."

"Ya, where did you learn to shoot like that?" Buck asked.

Rayne got lost in a memory for a moment before she spoke. "Jack taught me. When I was thirteen a new ranch hand came to the Belle Fille. He was already pretty well known. Lots of gunfights, bad temper, killed a couple of men; that sort of thing. Anyway turns out he was a pretty nice guy. When we had time off he showed me how to better use a gun. Taught me the quick draw." She laughed. "And how to play poker. He gave me my first shot of whiskey. Uncle Joe used to drink something fierce. He was a little man, but could he hold his whiskey."

Jimmy watched Rayne as she told the story. Her gray eyes held a faraway look as she retold the story. For some reason the way she said 'Uncle Joe' made him dislike the man very much.

"See Uncle Joe would be the most easy going guy around but the moment he was drunk it was like fighting with a bear. Once I was with Uncle Joe, I had to be about 15, it was right before he left, when these two big guys walked into a saloon. Joe was drunk as a sunk. The guys mean guys, started talking 'bout how they just held up this wagon and killed the people inside. There weren't a lot of girls there that night so I guess that's why they started messing with me. Anyway one of the guys just picked me right up by the shirt collar and started yelling about something. I just started kicking and fighting with him; the guy dropped me. Then he must've bumped into Uncle Joe because right then and there Jack challenged the guy."

Teaspoon listened to the girl tell the story. He wondered why she kept switching from "Uncle Joe" to "Jack."

"I kept my gun on the other guy while Uncle Joe and that first guy had it out. Uncle Joe won needless to say and the other guy turned to me and pointed his gun. Before I could do anything Jack yells at the guy to get his attention and then shoots him right in the head when he turned around. On our way home that night I asked Uncle Joe how come he yelled at that guy before he shot him and he said: 'Sunshine don't ever shoot a man in he back, no matter what, for three reasons. One, it makes it look like you're afraid to face him man to man, makes you look like a coward. Two, 'cause if you start shooting people in the back and don't look in there eyes before they die you start taking death to lightly and you should never take death lightly. And three, you shoot people in the back you can expect to get shot in the back.'" Rayne looked at Teaspoon as she spoke. "Uncle Joe moved on a few weeks after that. But I never forgot what he said."

"Why do you call him "Uncle Joe" and then "Jack."" Buck asked.

She laughed. "He called me Sunshine because he said Rayne was too sad. I called him Uncle Joe because everyone else called him Jack. His real name was Joseph A. Slade."

Teaspoon and the boys blinked a few times. "Joseph Slade?" Teaspoon said. "As in Jack Slade."

"Uncle Joe is Jack Slade." Buck said with awe in his voice think of the legendary fighter. 

"The Jack Slade." Jimmy asked.   


"You've heard of him?" She questioned.

Jimmy began to tell the story of the renowned man. Jack Slade was one of the craziest men around. People say he was UN-killable. There was a story about a trade post owner that had a beef with Jack Slade. Saw Jack walking unarmed into a general store and shot him six times with a pistol and then emptied two barrels of buckshot from a shotgun into him. The man that shot has said "When he is dead, you can put him in one of those dry goods boxes and bury him." Story was that Jack had looked up from the ground and told the man, "I'll live long enough to wear your ears on my watch chain." The man had laughed then but as soon as Jack recovered he found the man, killed him and to this day still wore the ears on his watch chain.

"Sounds like something Uncle Joe would do. The man deserved it if he shoots and unarmed man. It's good to hear he's still alive." Rayne said solemnly.

A white horse rode up to Rayne's front step. The Oliver Hudson jumped off and walked up to the front door he knocked a few times but there was no answer. When he turned around a huge beast growled at him from the bottom of the stairs.

"Well, Rayne, I guess that's all we need. You still coming over for dinner." Teaspoon asked after he was finished talking to woman. "You're a hell of a shot girl." He watched as the woman looked at the ground instead of responding to the complement. 

"See you later Rayne." Buck said. 

All of a sudden they heard Yona growl and begin barking angrily. They all ran outside and saw Yona barking at a man on a white horse. The horse tried to run but the man wouldn't let him. Yona was practically foaming with anger. The white horse reared but the man managed to keep on the saddle.

Lt. Hudson was out of breath. When he saw the dog he knew that it was Rayne's dog so he couldn't shoot it like he wanted to. To get away from the beast he had to jump over the railing on the porch and jump on his horse. The dog had managed to rip the bottom of his pant leg. Oliver was angry but the moment he saw Rayne his anger vanished.

Rayne whistled sharply but Yona didn't come to her. Jimmy looked at Rayne and saw the shock on her face. "Yona." She said distinctly and the dog reluctantly walked toward her owner.

Jimmy watched the army lieutenant regain his composure. To Jimmy, Oliver Hudson was a pompous, arrogant man that thought that the world owed him something for gracing it with his presence. More than once he had tried to second-guess Teaspoon's actions and that made him an enemy of all the pony express riders. He watched as the man stared at Rayne. Slightly Jimmy shifted so that he was between the man and his friend.

Teaspoon agreed with Jimmy evaluation of the man but there was something there that even Jimmy didn't catch. There was an unstable look to the man. He had seen Lt. Hudson treat his men amazingly badly while at the same time he tried to make the town fall in love with him. Teaspoon was afraid that it might be working. Oliver Hudson would smile at you and stab you in the back at the same time; he was not a man to be trusted. Obviously the dog knew that by the way he had gone after the man.

"Can I help you, sir?" Rayne questioned as she stepped in front of Jimmy.

"Ah, Ms. Kincade. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Lt. Oliver Hudson United States Army." He said and reached out for her hand. Like Cody he tried to bring it to his lips but Rayne pulled away. A dark shadow passed over the man's eyes. Yona growled.

"How do you know my name?" She asked suspiciously. The man in front of her had to be at least 6-ft tall, broad shoulders, and a narrow waist. He had light hair like the Kid. His eyes were blue and his face was chiseled with an aristocratic nose. She supposed that some women would find him attractive but all in all he reminded Rayne of a bird.

"I make it my business to know." Teaspoon cleared his throat. "Hello Marshal, gentlemen." He nodded at others his eyes never leaving Rayne.

"What do you want Hudson?" Jimmy snarled.

"Well Mr. Hickok I heard gunfire and then saw Ms. Kincade riding away. I was worried she had been hurt." He explained.

"Why?" Rayne asked with a raised eyebrow, her eyes darkened dangerously. "You don't even know me."

Oliver was taken a back by the question. "Well, you are a woman living alone. Someone needs to take care of you."

"I can take care of myself just fine, thank you." Great another man who thought that she was helpless just because she wasn't a man. 

Teaspoon smiled at the woman. He had thought Rayne was going to fall for this man just as the other women in town had seem to, but was surprised for the second time that day. Rayne stared at him as she would stare at a rattlesnake. He didn't doubt that her reaction to the man was influence by the fact that the dog hadn't stopped growling. The dog didn't even react like that to Cody, who still hadn't come to an understanding with man's best friend.

"Now that you've seen that she's okay don't you think you had better get back to your unit." Buck said quietly staring the man in the eye. If Buck hated anyone it was this man. Lt. Hudson careless behavior was going to start a war with the Indians around here and he didn't seem to care. "If I remember, Teaspoon said that you had a lot of things to do today."

Oliver glared at the man. How would this kid know whether or not he had work to do today? Vaguely he remembered the Marshal sending word to him that a group of criminals had arrived into town. The marshal had asked for assistance but Oliver declined his regiment had better things to do that police this infernal town. "I believe that I am on Ms. Kincade's land. Not yours Mr. Cross."

Buck jumped for the man but Teaspoon held him back. "I guess we had better get going." Teaspoon said as he practically dragged the young man away. Jimmy nodded to him saying that he was going to stay. "Rayne, we'll see you at dinner. Jimmy. Lieutenant." He tipped his bowler cap and climbed up on his horse and he and Buck rode away.

"Aren't you going to join your friends, Mr. Hickok?" Lt. Hudson asked.

"No, I'm staying with one of my friends, Hudson." Jimmy returned the man's glare evenly. 

"Very well. Ms. Kincade why don't you invite me in and we can get to know each other better?" Oliver smiled charmingly at the woman.

This man made Rayne's skin crawl. "No thank you. I have a lot of work to get done before dinner." She answered evenly hoping he would take the hint and leave.

As Teaspoon and Buck rode away Teaspoon though about the day's events, Rayne Kincade was more a mystery now that she had ever been. There were times when she seem to own the world, walking around as if every step that she took was a planed and calculated motion. Like during the fight with the MacMurphy's. She didn't even have to think; here reactions were as natural as breathing. And there were other times when she look like she didn't have a clue as to what was going on. When she had told the story about the man bumping into Jack Slade and then being challenged to a fight, Teaspoon had known right away that Jack had challenged the man because the man had touched Rayne. But Rayne didn't seem to know that. Then when Teaspoon had thanked her she tried to brush it off as if nothing had happened. The woman was a walking contradiction. Arrogant and cocky one minute unsure and shy the next. 

Teaspoon turned his head around and saw Hudson's white horse was still at Rayne's house. He was glad Jimmy had stayed. The marshal didn't trust that man alone with Rayne. Then he smiled to himself. Poor Hudson, if he did try something because Teaspoon knew that if that demon dog didn't stop him Rayne's Colt Dragon would.

"Well then have dinner with me." He insisted. This wasn't going the way Oliver had imagined it. He had seen himself riding up on his white horse, her waiting on the front steps. She would jump into his open arms and they would be together forever. Her at home making dinner, raising his sons, and waiting to hear everything that her heroic husband had done. 

"Sorry I have other plans." 

"So? Break them. I asked you to dinner." Did this woman not know that he was the most sought after man in the territories?

Of all the arrogant things to say. Right then and there Rayne decided that she never wanted to see this man ever again. "I said that I had other plans." She said through gritted teeth. "Good day, Lieutenant." Rayne walked into the barn.

Oliver took a step toward her and both Jimmy and Yona were on him in a second. Jimmy blocked his path and Yona stood snarling at Jimmy's feet. "The lady said good day." Hickok glared at Oliver.

"I don't think she really meant it. Let me by Hickok."

"Stay away from her Hudson. I'm warning you." Jimmy pulled himself to his full height as if daring the other man. Yona growled.

The army man took a step toward Jimmy. Rayne pushed her way in between the two men. "Stop it. Stop it right now. Lt. Hudson I believe I bid you good day. Do I need to say it clearer?" She scowled up at the man.

"I was just on my way. It's been a pleasure. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon." He looked intensely into her eyes as he spoke then turned and rode away.

Rayne turned to Jimmy. "I ain't got nothing to say to you Hickok. You best be on your way too." With that she walked back into the barn. 

Chapter 13

"Rayne," Jimmy began but she didn't stop. He walked into the barn and saw her brushing Loki down. "Look, I'm sorry about earlier."

"Don't apologize for something that's in your nature." Jimmy looked at her questioningly. "You think that because I'm a girl that I can't handle myself. Nothing's gonna change that. Not if I prove that I can ride as well as a man, shoot as well as a man, take care of myself as well as a man. You can't help being closed-minded."

No one called Jimmy Hickok close-minded. He began to yell. "I ain't close minded. I was just looking out for you."

"Why? Because you don't think that I can look out for myself. Well guess what? I've been looking out for myself since day one and I don't need some boy telling me what I can and can't do!" Her eyes were black with anger. 

"Boy? Are you calling me a boy?" He bellowed.

"Do you have wax in your ears?"

"If you aren't the most spoiled, selfish, person I ever met. How are you gonna call me close-minded? I ride with Lou, Lou and I get along just fine and she's a girl. That ain't closed-minded."

"Bull. She has to fight you boys for everything. All men out here think that a woman can't do anything because she isn't a man. Well let me tell you something Jimmy Hickok. I worked at the Belle Fille for seven years and never once did anyone tell me that I couldn't do something because I was a girl. I pulled my share just like everyone else. You know why they didn't question me because they realized that I got a head on my shoulders that's good for something other than cooking and making babies."

"I'm not saying that you're aren't as good as a man. Damn, you handle a gun better than half the men I know." He yelled at her.

"Then what's your problem?" She asked in an exasperated tone. 

"I just didn't want to see you get hurt. I do the same for anyone else." He said.

"Then why didn't you yell at Buck or Teaspoon?"

"Because I didn't expect to see you there. I hadn't ever seen you shoot a gun before you surprised me. I was just looking out for you."

"What about today with that Hudson man? Why'd you act so strangely then?" She said beginning to understand him. It didn't make any sense to her though. He had seen that she could take care of herself why didn't he just leave her alone about it?

"I don't like Hudson. I don't trust him." Jimmy said evenly.

"Jimmy I'm not incompetent. I don't need you watching my every move. I don't want a baby-sitter. I'm telling you right now that I can take care of myself so let it go." She said.

"Why'd you jump into that fight? Weren't you trying to do the same thing to us?" His voice was calmer. Jimmy watched her. She didn't seem to understand why he was worried about her. She didn't seem to understand that that's what friends did for each other.

"There's a difference between helping you and telling you what to do. I was helping. You were trying to tell me what I should and shouldn't have done. Besides I didn't run in and yell at you for shooting up the saloon." She smiled.

"I didn't yell." He defended himself.

"Ya you did. 'This isn't a game.'" She mimicked him.

"I don't sound like that. Hurry up we're gonna be late for dinner." He said laughing; maybe he did sound a little like that.

"Shoot, I just finished brushing Loki and now I got to saddle him again." 

Jimmy thought for a moment. "We can just double up. I'll bring you back over here afterwards."

"Naw, that's okay. I'll go bareback."

"Rayne, he doesn't even have a bit in. Quit being a baby and just ride with me." 

Rayne's jaw jutted forward and her mouth was set in a strait line. Jimmy knew that look. It was the face Rayne made when she was going to insist on being stubborn. "Loki doesn't need a bit." She snapped two leads on Loki's halter for reigns and lead the horse outside.

"You going to be able to get on? Loki's a really tall horse." Jimmy laughed when Rayne threw him a you've-got-to-be-kidding look and pulled herself on the horses back. He jumped on his own horse and looked at the girl beside him. "Come one, race ya." With that he spurred his horse on.

"Cheater." She called after him.

Loki loved a good race and was off before Rayne had even given the command. She crouched low on Loki's neck and laughed as they cut threw the wind. In the distance she heard Yona barking. It didn't take long for Loki to catch up with Jimmy's horse and pass him like he was standing still. Loki was bred for speed. His large nostrils flared as he flew over the ground. With out a saddle and only having Rayne on his back he carried a lot less weight than Jimmy's horse did and made it to the Way Station years before Jimmy's horse did.

Jimmy watched as the woman and her horse passed by him. There was no way he was going to catch them but urged his horse on anyway. He just watched them fly. By the time he got to the house everyone else was already outside. Rayne was still on Loki laughing at him. She jumped off her horse and greeted Yona as the dog ran up behind him. Yona barked happily and followed Rayne as she walked Loki to cool him down. Jimmy's horse's breaths were deep and ragged but he gave he horse a long pat for effort.

"Jimmy let me walk your horse. I got to talk to Rayne." Lou said as he got of the horse. Jimmy handed her the reins and she ran to join her friend.

"What did Kid do now?" Rayne asked laughingly as Lou walked up to her with Jimmy's horse.

Lou smiled. "You know me too well. He's just being Kid. Him, Cody and Noah were talking about all the girls in town. So and so is so pretty, so and so has such nice long flowing hair, did you see the white lacy dress so and so was wearing the other day she looked just like an angle."

Rayne groaned. "Was it a particular so and so?"

"No it was a whole bunch of different girls. I heard Grace Foster mentioned a lot though." 

Again Rayne groaned. "What did you do?"

"Nothing I just walked by and Kid looked at me with this big horrified expression. I ain't really mad I just hate that those girls get all dressed up like new pennies and I set here like a wooden nickel."

"Hey Lou." Rayne had an idea. "It looks like it's going to rain right?" Lou nodded. "Why don't you come home with me tonight? I got a guest bedroom you can stay in and sense tomorrow you probably won't be able to do anything cause of all the mud we can spend the whole day dressed-up and make fun of everyone. We'll have a girls day we can even ask Rachel to come."

A huge smile burst onto Lou's face. One whole day of being a girl. It was too good to be true. "Let's do it." She exclaimed happily. And both girls laughed in excitement. 

Chapter 14

After dinner the tired bunch walked out on the front patio. Dinner had been exhausting. Everyone wanted to talk about what had happened that day. Cody had had a falling out with Grace, turns out that she wasn't the princess that he thought she was. Lou and Rayne move down and sat with Rachel at the other end of the table. The girl's heads had been buried together the whole night and every so often they would laugh. Kid tried to catch Lou's eye but she was to busy talking to Rayne. 

"Kid," Cody had leaned over to tell him. "Whatever they're planning you can bet that it's going to get you in big trouble."

"Shut up, Cody."

"Don't say I didn't warn ya."

When everyone went outside Lou collected her things that she was going to take to Rayne's with her. Kid walked in and saw her packing. "Lou where are you going? I'm sorry I didn't mean to be talk about other girls. Don't leave."

"Don't be silly, Kid. I'm not mad at you. I'm going to Rayne's for the night. We are have a just the girl's day tomorrow. Rachel's going to come. No men allowed." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and rolled up her stuff and walked outside.

Teaspoon was looking at the darkened sky. It was going to start raining soon. Just as that thought crossed his mind a flash of lightening followed by a crash of thunder lit up the sky. "I love the rain." He told everyone.

"Hey, its going to rain and we're sitting with Rayne." Cody exclaimed and everyone groaned.

Ike signed something and Rayne who had spent a lot of time with Ike was getting really good at understanding his sign language. "You want to know how I got my name?" She asked Ike nodded. "Well it just so happens that I was born during the worst storm of the year. My mom said that I cried so loud she couldn't even hear the thunder." Ike smiled at her and asked another question. "Do I like the rain? Oh ya. It's one of my most favorite things."

"Rain is when the angels in heaven cry because they see the prettiest little girl in the whole world and they want to come down and play with her." Rachel said and everyone stared at her but she was staring at Rayne. It was if a bucket of cold water had washed over her and she finally remembered who Rayne reminded her of.

"What?" Noah asked.

"Rain is when the angels in heaven cry because they see the prettiest little girl in the whole world and they want to come down and play with her." Rachel repeated. "You're Jeremy's little girl aren't you? I should have seen the resemblance before. Those eyes, that dimple, that temper; that's Jeremy. I see him in you clear as day." Rayne had gotten so pale that she almost glowed white. "It all makes sense now. You know that every time it rained he would go out and watch it, sometimes for hours. And then he would say Rain is when the angels in heaven cry because they see the prettiest little girl in the whole world and they want to come down and play with her that. You were the little girl."

"How-How do you know him?" She stuttered.

"Me and Jeremy used to play cards together. I had been to the house a few times but I never saw you there. I saw those pretty sisters of yours though."

"Half-sisters. Francis ain't my mom." She said softly.

"Oh," Rachel said quietly, realizing what that meant. Jeremy Elliot had only been married one time that meant that Rayne was Jeremy's bastard child. The riders looked at Rayne. She was so still it looked as if she were carved out of stone. 

"Did you know him well, Rachel?" She asked quietly almost hopefully. Rayne didn't realize just how much she wanted to know about Mr. Elliot until Rachel said that she knew him. "What was he really like? I worked on his ranch but I never really knew him. I didn't find out about him being my father until it was too late to get to know him."

"Jeremy's gone?" Tears formed in Rachel's eyes.

Rayne nodded gravely. "Almost two months ago. Lung disease. What was he like?" She asked like a child.

Jimmy watched Rayne stare at Rachel as if to see into her soul. He wasn't sure what was going on. The big thing that he got was that Rayne's daddy made her work on his ranch. From the way she talked about working it was like she was just another hired hand. What kind of man did that to his daughter? He watched as every emotion that she felt shown out of her. Usually Rayne's eyes were guarded as if she had some big secret to hide but now they were so clear Jimmy wondered if he could see himself in them. Slowly the rain started falling.

"Oh god, I remember one night he got really drunk and lost a big pot in a high stakes game. I helped him up to his room and he said something that didn't make sense at the time but now it does. He said 'My rain's gone. Francis won't let me have her. But I've seen her sometimes. So pretty, but hard too. Too hard. I wanted to make her happy. One day she will be with me and I'll ride with the rain.' I thought that he was talking about Francis being unfeeling toward him. They were having some problems. But it was you. Francis wouldn't let him have you."

"She told me that I had to leave because I was a constant reminder of Mr. Elliot." Rayne's gray eyes held so much pain in them that Lou had to look away.

"You are. I don't know how I missed it before."

Noah looked at Rayne and knew how she felt. He didn't remember his father that well. All he had to go on where stories that Sally had told him and the shaky memory he had. It was hard not to remember your father. The rain was coming down in sheets now.

"Oh sugar." Rachel said. "Come here." She held out he arms but Rayne stepped backwards into the rain.

"No." The woman said stiffly as water poured down over her. She looked around her at all the sympathetic faces and felt disgusted with herself. Rayne was so surprised that she let them see her ugly side. The side that she tried to hide from everyone, her weak side. "Why are you all staring at me like I have another head?" She said happily, her mood totally changing. "Come on Lou let's get going before it starts to really rain. And boys don't you dare think about coming over tomorrow." She smiled and walked to the barn to get Loki. 

Lou followed and saddled Lightening she didn't say a word. It was times like this when not speaking was the best way to help. They walked back out toward everyone who didn't look like they had moved. 

"Bye guys. Thanks for dinner. See you tomorrow Rachel." Rayne jumped up on Loki's back and just held herself here for a minute. Her arms stiffened, Loki supporting her entire body weight. All she had to do was swing a leg over and she was on but one of her arms started to shake and she slid back down. 

Jimmy was next to her in a minute. "Let me help you." He said as he put his hands on her waist to boost her up.

She pushed away from him. "Let go of me Jimmy Hickok." She growled but her eyes told a different story. They were large and wide with fright. Rayne looked at Jimmy the same way animals look when they are caught in a trap, like she would rather chew off her on leg than to have him any where near her. 

Yona heard her master's tone and snarled at Jimmy. He raised his hands and backed away. Jimmy was stunned he didn't think that any human being could posses something inside them that made so frantic. It took only a second for her to get on Loki's back. Yona was still growling at Jimmy. "Yona, good girl." The dog stopped and the girls rode away.

"I didn't know." Rachel said. "I thought that she was Jeremy and Francis daughter. I didn't know she was going to react like that." Her emotions were spiraling. First she had found out that one of her friends had died. Second, she had hurt Rayne. And third, everything in Rachel's being ached for the little girl that was locked up in that woman that tried so hard to keep it hidden. "I'm going inside."

"I'll walk you in Rachel." Cody said as he reached for one arm. Kid grabbed the other. 

"Thanks Cody, Kid."

Teaspoon had seen some interesting things in his time and this one was right up there. Rayne had just undergone so many mood changes he hadn't had time to count them all. But it was the last few that stuck in his head. Pain, panic, and fear. That girl had a lot she was hiding from them as well as herself. What else had happened that made her so scared of people touching her? When Rachel tried to comfort her or when Jimmy tried to help her she backed away like they were on fire. No one should be so afraid of human comfort. He watched Jimmy stare after the girls. "Noah come help me check on the horses." Teaspoon said and they walked off.

"Jimmy?" Buck began. "You okay?"

He turned his head back to his friend. "Ya."

"Ike wants to know what you think about the way Rayne acted."

"I don't know what to think, Ike." He said addressing the man. "I ain't never seen a person act like that."

Ike stared into the darkness until a flash of lightening brightened the sky and he saw the two women in the distance. He hadn't seen anyone act like that either.

Chapter 15

Lou was in heaven, pure, absolute heaven. She had slept in all morning. Then when she got up her and Rayne had put on different gowns. Neither woman had an extensive collection of dresses but they made due with what they had. Rayne had used a hot iron to curl Lou's hair on top of her head and Lou had then braided Rayne's hair in one of the popular styles. Rayne had a small collection of rouge and some lip reddener. Now they were sitting down to a fine lunch of only apple pie. "I wonder where Rachel is?" Rayne asked taking a large bite of pie.

Lou raised an eyebrow. She thought that Rachel probably thought Rayne didn't want her to come over after last night. When the girl's had gotten home last night they had changed clothes and gone to bed. And this morning the subject of last night hadn't come up. Rayne didn't look like anything had changed and Lou didn't want to ask and upset her friend. "Probably still at the house."

"Well she needs to be over here. How are we going to get her over here without having to go get her?" Lou shrugged. "I know. Lou walk over there and get a piece of paper and the inkwell." Rayne said as she ran upstairs when she came back down she saw Lou staring at the paper. "Don't just sit there write something on it." Then Rayne whistled.

"Okay." Lou said Rayne's idea finally dawning on her. "Rachel, get over here now. You're missing all the fun. Signed Lou and Rayne." She read to the girl.

"Perfect. Now roll it up." Rayne took the note from Lou and tied it to Yona's collar. "Yona go get Rachel." The dog stared at her. "Yona go get Ike." This time Rayne pointed at the direction the dog should go. "Lou you think Teaspoon's in town." Lou nodded. "Damn, she'd go to Teaspoon or you but that doesn't do me any good."

"Here let me try something." Lou said as she looked at the dog. "Yona go get Jimmy." With that the dog took of in the direction of the way station. Lou smiled at Rayne. "Just got to know who to ask for."

Rayne rolled her eyes. She knew that Yona would go to Jimmy she just didn't want to say it. 

"Rayne you mad at Jimmy or something." Lou asked.

"Not really. I just hate the fact that he treats me like a child." She told Lou. "He gets mad at me for doing the same stuff he would do. All the boys do that. Like when I was building the fence. Noah kept telling me where each post should go, how deep the holes should be, blah blah blah. He acted like I hadn't ever built a fence before. I've had to mend fences since I could hold a hammer. Then he offered to help me carry the heavy stuff saying that it would be easier on me. They are just so frustrating."

Lou just laughed and laughed and laughed. When she say Rayne glaring at her all she could say was, "Join the club."

Yona ran up to Jimmy, who was helping Kid muck, the stalls, like a dog possessed. His first thought was that something had happened to Rayne and Lou but then he saw the paper under Yona's collar. He read the note and began to walk inside to give Rachel the message. 

"Jimmy, what's going on. Are they okay?" Kid said as he walked after Jimmy. Buck and Cody raised their heads wondering what was going on. "What does that note say?"

"What? Oh ya. The note's for Rachel telling her to hurry up and get over there." Jimmy told the worried young man.

"I really want to know what's going on over there." Cody told Buck. "I mean what could those girls do all day with out us."

Buck shook his head. "Cody if you are thinking what I think you're thinking you had better stop thinking it."

Cody looked confused. "What? All I'm saying is that I'm curious."

"You go over there and Rayne'll skin you alive." Cody wasn't listening to Buck's warning. He was already planning the diabolical scheme. Rachel saddled a horse and rode over to Rayne's and Cody knew he had to find out what they were doing.

  
When Rayne opened the door for Rachel a look passed between the women. It said that neither one wanted to talk about what had happened the other day. Rachel looked at the younger women in front of her. Though she thought they were pretty normally they seemed exceptionally beautiful today. She looked at the girls. They seemed so happy and she knew why. Both girls had to live and dress like men to be taken seriously in a man's world and finally they were getting a break from it. 

Rachel looked at them thoroughly. Lou looked more like a woman that Rachel had ever seen her. The men's clothes hid the cute little figure Lou had from all the time she spent on a horse but the blue dress accented them nicely. Her hair was curly and her face was done up. When she smiled her face lightened and Rachel saw what a beautiful woman she had become. Lou was the kind of woman that men tipped their hats too on the street and fought to dance with at church socials. 

With Rayne it was different. Rayne's curves were made even more obvious in the maroon dress that she wore. Her hair was pull back off her face and her lips were the same color as the dress. She seemed a little uncomfortable but smiled. Once, in Atlanta Rachel had seen a marble statue of an angel that sat outside a large church. Rachel had walked around and around the statue studying it's delicate lines and carefully thought out design, it looked like a person but it was hard as stone. That was how Rayne looked to her beautiful but made of stone. Isn't that what Jeremy had told her. "So pretty but too hard." She looked over them again. "You two look exceptional."

"Hurry up Rachel and change." Lou said and pointed to the bag that carried a dress. The women began chattering and laughing. It was heaven.

"This isn't going to work. The girls are going to kill us." Kid whispered to Cody. All six boys were hiding behind Rayne's barn. Somehow Cody had talked them all into going over to Rayne's to spy on the girls. Truth of it was that it wasn't very hard. They were all curious.

"It's going to work just shut up. Jimmy you got the bone." Jimmy nodded, he agreed with the Kid but he wanted to see what the girls were doing. "Good. Now call Yona show she don't bark and give us away." Cody told the man.

Jimmy gave a sharp quiet whistle and watched as a few seconds later the dog pushed her way out the screen door and walked over to him. "Good girl." He said as he gave the dog the bone. 

"Now what." Ike signed.

"Now we go and look in the windows to see if we can see anything." Cody responded.

"Like peeping Tom's." Noah exclaimed.

"You got a better idea." No one answered. Jimmy, Buck, and Kid walked to the north side of the house while Ike, Cody, and Noah took the south. They each looked in a different window. Cody and Noah shared one kitchen window while Ike looked through another one. They couldn't see anyone. Buck looked into the room that Rayne used for and extra bedroom but no one was there. Jimmy and Kid each looked through a different living room window but they turned up short-handed also. 

"They must be upstairs." Buck said as he met up with Kid and Cody. "Let's go get the others." Before they could move they saw motion coming from the stairs. Ike, Noah and Cody, who could see nothing from the kitchen, scurried over to the rest of the boys to see who was coming down the stairs.

"Who is it?" Cody asked.

"I can't tell." Buck returned.  


"It's Rachel." Jimmy told them. "She's all gussied up." Before anyone could say anything else a huge downpour of water fell on to their heads. 

Jimmy, Kid, and Ike who were looking out of one window looked up to see Lou in the window above them with an empty bucket. Rayne held the bucket over the heads of Noah, Cody, and Buck. "I told you, William Cody, not to come over here." She yelled down at them. 

  
Rachel laughed from the inside. She had been used as the distraction. The girls had been sitting outside when they saw the boys getting ready to go somewhere. It was Lou who thought they might be headed this way and she was right. Each of the women had begun planning for the attack. Quickly Rachel ran to the door and held it open for Yona to get in, shut the door, locked the boys out and then ran up stairs.

"Rayne Kincade I'm gonna get you for this." Cody yelled as he ran to the door, only to find it locked. "Everyone find an open window." He yelled.

"Lou did you latch the window in your room?" Rayne questioned.

"I don't remember."

"Found one." Kid yelled.

"Guess not." She said guiltily as Rayne ran to the window on the second floor that opened on the same side the boys were trying to get in.

"Okay Ike you climb in and the run and open the front door." Kid told him in a serious voice.

"Lou get me the another bucket." The girls had five buckets of water in Rayne's room. When Lou handed her the bucket Rayne tossed the water out the window splashing Ike's backside because he wasn't all the way in the house yet and most of Jimmy who was giving him a boost. "Got 'em." She told the other women. Then she looked out the window again. "Oh, Hickok looks mad. Come on, to the attic."

The top floor of Rayne's house was very oddly designed. One half was the master bedroom and a smaller room that Rayne used as a library of sorts. The other half was an empty space that Rayne called an attic. It was empty except for a few boxes. A small hall separated the two sides. This was were the girls had laid their traps. Quickly they walked over into the attic carrying the remaining two buckets of water.

Ike unlocked the door for the others. He left wet footprints wherever he stepped. "Cody what are you going to do when we find them?" Noah asked.

This made Cody stop for a minute. "Good point. Anyone got any ideas?"

They sat and thought for a moment. Then Ike signed something to Buck and they left the room. Buck went outside and Ike went to the kitchen. "Guys, we can get the mud from outside." Buck said when he came back.

"We can't mess up her house like that." Kid said reasonably. 

  
"Well there's a big hole that looks like someone already has gotten some out of here. I'm guess that Lou and the others have a few surprises waiting for us." He said as Ike ran in carrying the remaining half of an apple pie and another whole one.

"Ike this is not the time to be thinking with you stomach." Cody exclaimed. Every rider looked at him in surprise. Was this the bottomless pit talking? Ike make a few throwing gestures. "Oh good idea."

Now it was Noah's turn to protest. "We can't throw the pie." But no one listened. Jimmy had gone out with Buck to put mud in one of Rayne's cooking pots and Cody joined Ike in the kitchen. Only Kid and Noah remained. A few minutes later the boys were back and began making their way up the stairs. "Ah ha!" Cody yelled as he jumped into Rayne's room but it was empty. One by one they turned to the attic door.

"You first Cody." Buck said.

"Why me? I already jumped through one door. Why not you?"

"I had to get the mud."

"I guess that leaves me out too." Jimmy agreed.

"Ike had to climb in the window." Buck said.

"Well then," Cody turned to Noah and Kid. "I guess that leaves one of you."

"I ain't going." Noah said.

"Me neither." Kid chimed in.

"Well it's one of you two." Jimmy told them.

Kid looked and Noah and Noah at Kid. "Shoot for it." Kid stated. "Odds you go, evens I go." Noah nodded. "One, two, three. Shoot." Kid put out three fingers and Noah held out one.

"Look's like you're up Kid." Cody grinned. Kid sighed and moved to the door.

Tentatively he began to open it. When it was about half way open he saw Lou standing in front of him smiling. "I was hoping it was you." She said. He saw the bucket in her hands too late, and she doused him. He turned and looked to the others and said, "Give me that pie." And rushed in.

It was a furious war. The girls were far better prepared that the boys who soon ran out of ammunition and started to throw what ever they could find on themselves or the floor. "Is that my apple pie." Rayne screamed when someone hit her in the stomach with a hand full of the dessert. 

"Sure is." Cody said, then Rachel fired a handful of mud and hit him in the back of the head. 

The girl had piles of mud hidden all over the attic. Rayne saw Noah sneaking up on Lou who was throwing mud at Buck and the Kid. "Noah." She yelled. When he turned around she hit him square in the face with the cream that she had whipped to go on the pie that was now scattered all over the attic.

Rachel grabbed the last bucket of water and threw it on Jimmy who was coming at her with a handful of mud. Then she ran to Rayne. "We're out." She yelled over the laughter.

"I know. Let's get Lou and move it outside." The two women ran through the barrage of mud and food to their third member. "Lou let's get out of here." They turned to see five men standing between them and the door. Rayne did a quick head count and noticed that Jimmy was missing. She turned around and saw that Jimmy was behind them. She was so caught up in the playing that before she knew it she had her arm around Jimmy's throat and held him like a hostage. A ball of apple pie in her hand as a weapon. "Move it boys or Hickok here gets it." She said evilly.

One by one the boys moved out of the way. "Don't do it." Cody yelled. "He's as good as gone."

"Thanks a lot Cody." His back was killing him because he had to bend backwards for Rayne to keep a hold on him. If he stood up he would pull her off the ground.

"Move Cody." Lou growled. Cody reluctantly moved and Rachel and Lou backed out of the attic Rayne and Jimmy bringing up the rear. Right after Rayne was out the door she relaxed her hold on Jimmy. The moment he turned to face her she slammed the handful of pie on the side of his face. "Sorry Jimmy. All's fair." She ran down the stairs to join the girls outside. 

When she saw Rachel and Lou she began to laugh. They were in their nice dresses covered head to toe with mud and other things but they were ready to do battle. Rayne made a mental note to go to town tomorrow and buy them new dresses. The boys ran out hot on her tail. They were an even sadder sight. Besides being covered with everything most of them were soaken wet. Looking around everyone joined Rayne in her laughter. 

"Everyone to the pond." Cody yelled and jumped on his horse. The spontaneous nature of the request made everyone follow his lead. Lou, Rachel, and Rayne ran to get their horses from the barn. Loki wasn't saddled and Rayne didn't want to take the time so again she jumped on bareback, which was difficult in the long dress. 

By the time everyone got to the small pond no one wasted any time the just took off their shoes and jumped in, even Yona. They dunked and splashed each other until they were exhausted. Rayne climbed out of the water and sat beside Lou and Rachel who had stopped earlier. "My legs are killing me. Who knew it would be this hard to say afloat with all the stuff on. It was like I was wearing a suit of armor."

"I know what you mean." Rachel agreed. "I'm gonna head back to the house."

"Rachel stay." Rayne said.

"No, I'm tired. But thanks for today. It was the most fun I've had in a long time." Rachel said. Ike who saw Rachel leaving jumped out of the water and helped her on her horse. The long wet skirt was too heavy.

"Hey, where'd Rachel go?" Lou asked after a few minutes. 

Rayne smiled. "She went home. You would know that if you weren't staring at Kid the way a starving man stares at a steak." Kid and most of the others had taken off shirts and socks and were swimming around in just their pants.

Lou blushed. "I was not."

"Sure, hey come with me. I got to at least get these stockings off before I turn into a prune. I don't want anyone coming up on me." Rayne said. She and Lou walked over to a thicket of trees and Lou kept guard as Rayne took off her stockings and petticoat. The wet dress was about 25 pounds lighter. "Thank god," she exclaimed. Lou saw the comfort in Rayne's eyes and did the same.

"We'd better get back and start cleaning the attic." Lou said.

"Ya, I guess you're right. Besides even if this dress is lighter I still want to get in some dry clothes." Rayne agreed. 

"Let's tell the boys we are leaving." Lou suggested. The girls walked back to the pond and told the boys they were going back to Rayne's. The girls mounted their horses. "Ugh, they didn't' even pay attention. What about the petticoats?"

"What do you expect they are boys?" Rayne said as they rode off. "I'll come back when they are dry."  


The girls didn't know how wrong they were. With out the petticoats on the wet dresses hid nothing. Each of the boys stared at the girls with a new admiration, not for how well they rode or shot but for their femininity. Kid watched as the material clung to the curve of Lou's hips as she moved and wanted to go and cover her from the other's prying eyes. He glared a Buck who stared just a little too long and the Cody who let out an appreciative sigh.

When Rayne had jumped on Loki her dress had lifted up revealing a slim calf and a tiny ankle. The dress outlined every stretch of her long legs as she rode away. The girl's hair had come undone and flowed down her back in waves from the braid. Jimmy's mouth had gone dry.

They boys stayed in the water for a little longer before they got out. As Jimmy buttoned up his shirt Kid walked up behind him. "Jimmy," The other man nodded. "Back at the house, in the attic, how did Rayne hold you hostage. I mean how did you not overpower her." Jimmy shrugged his shoulders. 

"It was just a game Kid." He didn't' remember much because it happened so fast. Maybe he didn't fight her to the death but it was only a game. 

Kid watched Jimmy's face. "Ya, whatever you say." 

Jimmy gave Kid an odd look. "What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing, Jimmy. Nothing."

Chapter 16

Rayne rode into town a few days later. Her first stop was of course to go and see Tilly. As she walked into the saloon she notice a two strangers in the bar. She gave them a hard glance trying to see if they possessed any danger. They seemed to be just regular drunkards and she didn't pay them any mind and sat down with Tilly. "Who are they?" She said nodding over her shoulder.

"They came in last night ruffed up a few girls. Tried to get them to leave but the Marshal's not here. He had to go see about some stolen cattle. Sure wished they'd leave though." She shook her head. "Heard you're a bit of a hero."

"What?" She wasn't sure what Tilly was referring too then she remembered the fight with the MacMurphys. "It wasn't as big a deal as everyone was making it out to be. I'm just glad you weren't here."

"If it were any other day we would have been. Gus decided he wanted to go into Rock Creek for a few days. Glad we missed it. But you shouldn't have put yourself in danger like that."

"Till don't start. I already been yelled at couple of times before." Rayne rolled her eyes at the memory.

"I knew that Teaspoon was good man. He should have yelled at you. No girl needs to be out there with a gun."

"Damn it, Tilly, if you don't sound like everyone else here. Just 'cause I'm a girl don't mean that I can't handle myself. Besides Teaspoon thanked me."

"Where's the girls?" A loud yell came from one of the men on the other side of the saloon. Rayne gave them a dirty look.

"Girl, if you aint got your daddy's stupid courage. Who yelled at you?" Tilly asked ignoring the men.

"Jimmy." She said shortly ignoring Tilly's raised eyebrows. "Tilly I have to ask you an important question." Tilly nodded solemnly. "Did you know Jeremy Elliot?"

Buck walked across the street to the Teaspoon's office. He noticed that Loki was standing tied outside the saloon and Yona lay on the ground. He knew that Rayne was probably visiting the woman that she knew there. When he entered the saloon he was surprised to see Noah but not Teaspoon.

Tilly sighed deeply. "I knew that soon you would ask me about him. Sit down girl, I knew that you would be asking this soon. Jeremy Elliot adored you the moment he laid eyes on you." Rayne stared at the table, she wasn't sure why but it was really hard to hear about the man that had sired her. "I think that if his wife would have let him he would have taken you away with him the day after you were born. He always had someone around to keep an eye on you. Do you remember the night that he took you? It was a few months after, well, that incident."

She shut her eyes on the memory of the event that Tilly was referring to. To this day she still had nightmares. It was that incident that caused her to lose all want for human touch. "No I don't remember anything. One day I was at Nelly's and the then next at the Belle Fille." She said trying to remember what had happened.

"That mother of yours was so jealous of the attention that Jeremy paid you. He was the only man that ever walked away from her. Abby, that bitch-"

"Tilly leave you comments of my mother out of this." 

"Child," Tilly couldn't understand why Rayne still held the loyalty to Abby. She would have thought that time would have shown her the light. How did she tell Rayne the whole story and not ruin the impression Rayne had of her mother? She couldn't bring that kind of hurt to the woman in front of her. "Fine. The short version is that one night Jeremy came and demanded that you leave with him. And he took you."

"Barkeep, bring me whisky!" Another call from the two men.

"Did my mother try to stop him?" Rayne said so softly that Tilly wasn't sure she heard it. 

"How do I tell her this?" She thought. If she told Rayne the truth it would destroy her. If she lied, Rayne would believe in a woman that didn't exist. In the end Tilly decided for a half-truth. "No, honey. She didn't"

Rayne held her face like stone. Tilly couldn't see any expression in her eyes but deep down she knew the child had to be hurting. "Tilly I got to go. I have a couple of things to order from Tompkins. See you next week." She stood and started to leave the building.

"Well, well, well. Lookie John what do we have here." A dirty man said as he stood in Rayne's path. "A whore." His alcohol-laden breath stung her nose.

"She's a sweet looking thing, ain't she Sal." John said. "Look at them long legs, what I wouldn't give to have them around me.

Glaring evenly at the man she spoke in a soft tone but with much authority. "Move now."

"A little spitfire." Sal, the man in front of her said as he reached out to touch her cheek but Rayne moved her head. "Spitfire indeed. We'll have fun with this one."

"Fellas why don't you leave the lady alone." Gus said as he moved closer to the group.

One of the men from the town ran over to the marshal's office and stuck his head in the door. "Trouble at the saloon. Couple of guys trying to get at that lady friend of yours."

Noah just looked at the man wondering whom he was talking about. But Buck was on his feet in an instant. "Rayne's over there." And they walked toward the saloon quickly.

Lt. Hudson had seen Rayne enter the building and walked over to the bar. He had decided that the reason that she had been so cold to him was because of Hickok. Oliver had heard all about Hickok's reputation and figure that the poor woman was probably scared of him. When he talked to her alone today he was sure that he would win her over.

"Did anyone ask you to interfere old man?" John glared at Gus. 

Quickly Rayne stepped in front of Gus. For all of Gus' bravery Rayne knew that he wouldn't be any help with these two. Besides they posed no threat, merely harmless drunks. She saw Yona standing in the doorway waiting for word from her mistress. "I'm not a whore. Move out of my way now or I'll have you arrested."

The men gave a harty laugh. "All women are whores. They all want the same thing." Sal said as he put his hands on Rayne's shoulders and tried to pull her to him. 

She brought one powerful knee up and slammed it into the man. He doubled over in pain. Then she lowered her elbow on the back of the man neck. When he hit the floor she looked over to see the state of the other man but Yona had already knocked the man to the ground and was tearing up his arm. 

In the doorway she saw the army lieutenant who had visited her house was staring at her in shock. "Yona." The dog released the man and Gus held a gun on him.

Oliver had watched the whole thing. These heathen men had attacked his dove and she had defended herself. Where had she learned the horrible things that she had done to that man? Certainty now lady shouldn't know those kind of things. His concern over ran his curiosity, "Ms. Kincade are you okay?" He ran to her and put arms around her.

"Get away from me!" She said as she shrugged out of his grasp. After having just fought off two men she was not in the mood to deal with this snake. A smile of relief almost crossed her face when she saw Buck and Noah. 

"What happened?" Noah questioned.

Tilly ran up to the boys who she recognized as being deputies of the marshal sometimes. "These two men tried to assault Rayne."

"They are merely drunk. They didn't know what they were doing." Rayne explained.

"Miss Kincade how can you say that? They meant to ravage you." Oliver said from behind her. He was furious about the way that she had responded to him but he thought that it was just a reaction to being attacked. It would only be a moment before she collapsed in his arms.

"They are only drunk." She told the boys. "Why else would they pick me? Just lock them up and let them sleep it off. I won't press any charges."

Noah didn't understand her all of her comment but most of what she said was logical. She wasn't going to press charges then they couldn't really do anything but better to get them off the street before something worse happened. "Buck cuff that one." He said pointing to the man Gus had a gun on and went to pick up the man on the floor.

"Get you hands off me Half-breed." The man spit as Buck cuffed him.

Rayne had had enough. First they attacked her now they were insulting her friends and after she had spared them a lot of jail time. It was too much. She walked over and punched the man right in the gut. "Shut-up pig."

Buck didn't even have a chance to react to what the man said before Rayne punched the man. "You bitch." He heard the man say and notice the blood trickling from his lip. Buck's gun was out before the man had a chance to finish. "One more word and I'll change my mind about just locking you up." In that brief moment Rayne had gained Buck's unyielding loyalty.

"Miss Kincade allow me to accompany you home." Oliver said trying to show his chivalry. He was not one to be out done by some Indian. Then he grabbed Rayne's hand and placed it on his arm and holding it there.

"No thank you, Lt. Hudson." Rayne jerked her hand away and wiped it on her pants as if to rid herself of the feel of him. "I am not yet done with my errands in town and as you can see I am more than capable of taking care of myself." She said shortly, desperately wanting to get away from this man.

"Then I will see to it that you have a safe trip through town." 

"No." Could this man not take a hint? "I will be fine." She walked passed Noah and Buck and left.

An amazing amount of anger coursed through Oliver. Who did that woman think she was? He was Oliver Hudson, Lieutenant in the United States Army and she was just another wench. Pushing past the men he left the saloon to try again with the girl.

  
Noah and Buck laughed as Hudson left. They took the men and locked them in the cell and waited for Teaspoon. "That Rayne's got one hell of a right hook." Noah said.

"She sure does." Buck laughed but his tone was full of admiration. 

"Miss Kincade." She heard a voice behind her and groaned. The man had followed her into Tompkins' store.

"My name is Rayne. Just Rayne." She said hotly. 

He smiled at last he was making progress. To call a woman by her first name was a great step in the courting process. "I hope that you were not injured by the men."

Rayne walked around the store. She only needed a few items. Yona growled at Hudson and Rayne didn't reprimand the dog. Why was this man bothering her? "Do I look injured Lt. Hudson?"

"Oliver."

  
"Fine, do I look injured Oliver?" 

"No in fact Rayne you look wonderful." He took a step closer to her but the dog moved between them and he had to back up. "I was wondering would you care to have dinner with me tonight."

"I can't I have plans." She lied and placed the groceries on the shelf and waited for Tompkins to tell her the price.

  
"Well how about tomorrow?"

"Busy." 

"That'll be five dollars, Rayne." Tompkins said has he looked from the army man to the woman. "You know the rules Rayne get the dog out." 

"We'll be leaving in a minute." She reached to get the money.

"I'll get that for you." Hudson said. "What about the day after that?"

"Busy." She laid the money on the counter before Hudson could put money down and picked up everything she bought. When she got outside she began to load Loki's saddlebags.

"What is you problem?" He growled as he grabbed the girl's arm and turned her to face him. Rayne pulled her arm away and glared at him. Yona stepped between the man and her mistress. "Get away you damned dog." Oliver kicked the dog. Yona moved but not fast enough and Oliver's boot hit her in the shoulder. The dog yelped and then snapped at the man.

Rayne didn't think twice, the moment the man struck the dog she snapped. Her hand went flying toward his face. Oliver saw fist coming, before it smashed into his jaw. 

He was stunned. No woman had ever raised a hand to him before. It wasn't even a second before he backhanded the woman. There was a gasp that went through the crowd that had gathered. All of a sudden one hundred and twenty pounds of fur flew at his throat. Oliver threw his hands up to protect his face. And the dog bit at his arm but didn't get a hold of it. With all his strength he pushed the dog off of him and stood up. 

"Who the hell do you think that you are?" Rayne yelled at the man, one side of her face was red from the force of his slap. "Stay away from me." Yona growled and snarled at the woman's feet. She began to walk to the horse.

"Get back here." He yelled. Oliver Hudson was beyond angry and embarrassed. His perfect dove had turned into the devil. "Don't walk away from me." But she didn't turn around, he took a giant step toward the girl but a man with a gun stopped him. 

"Don't touch her." Jimmy growled at the man. Anger seemed to be radiating from his body. All he had seen was Yona jump on the man and then Rayne yelled.

Teaspoon and Jimmy had ridden up just in time. "Mr. Hudson, I suggest that you return to your men. And don't let me catch you near Miss Kincade again." He said evenly with a gun also raised on the man.

"I don't need your help." Rayne said from behind them. "I just want all of you to leave me alone." Jimmy, Teaspoon, and Hudson looked up at the woman on horseback. "Mr. Hudson don't ever come near me again. Jimmy, Teaspoon thank you for your help but I can fight my own battles."

Jimmy looked up and noticed that one side of her face was beginning to turn blue and he thought about shooting Hudson on the spot. He didn't understand why she was mad at him but he didn't have time to think about it. He cocked the hammer of the gun at the other man.

Hudson picked his hat up off the ground. "Keep that bitch away from me." He said as he dusted off his pants. That was it for Jimmy, he leapt for the man but Noah and Buck who appeared as if from no where stopped him. "She attacked me marshal. Her and that damn dog. I demand that she be arrested and the dog put down."

"You lying sack of—If you touch my dog I'll kill you." She screamed at the man her eyes had become black fire. 

"Do you hear that marshal she threatened me? I want to have her arrested." Hudson yelled. If he could get her arrested she would be put in a cell with those two men. Maybe that would teach her a lesson in politeness.

"Marshal Hunter." A voice came from the crowd. "That girl didn't attack him. He started it." A murmur of agreement ran through the crowd.

"No that harlot threw herself at him." Another voice from the crowed said.

"Grace Foster, you keep you lying mouth shut." Rayne yelled.

"See marshal she's just another heathen harlot." Grace called out; she would do anything to see this woman leave town. 

"Gracie how would you know you and Bobby Sawyer just came around the corner. She was defending herself marshal." Tilly yelled. Rayne smiled as Grace blushed and stomped away. Then she gave Tilly a nod of thanks. 

"That's right Teaspoon. He followed her all the way through the store." Tompkins said. He was going out on a limb because the army gave him a lot of business. Teaspoon nodded at the man

Oliver stomped off. How dare this town turn on him after all he had done for it. He would live to see Rayne Kincade pay if it was the last thing that he did.

Rayne and Yona ran out of town before anyone could stop them. Teaspoon shook his head as Buck and Noah let got of Jimmy. "That girl's got trouble on the way." 

"If he goes near her I'll kill him." Jimmy swore. He didn't think he could hate someone as much as he hated Oliver Hudson at that moment.   


"Ya but she might shoot you for trying to save her." Buck pointed out. "There's something that she's fighting inside of herself."

"Something that's making her keep everyone else away." Noah agreed.

Jimmy remained silent. There was a mystery attached to Rayne Kincade and he was going to figure out what it was. As for Hudson he was lucky to still be alive because every time Jimmy closed his eyes he saw the bruise on Rayne's cheek and wanted the man dead. 

Chapter 17

Early the next morning Jimmy rode over to Rayne's house while the other's sat down for breakfast. He wanted to talk to her and to see how she was doing. When he rode up he expected Yona to greet him like she always did, but Yona was no where to be seen. Jimmy walked to the barn; no one ever knocked on the front door anymore because Rayne was rarely in her house. Loki was gone. 

Beau neighed from his stall as Jimmy approached. There was fresh water and oats for the big animal. Posted on the stall door was a sealed envelope with Lou's name on it. He grabbed the letter and walked to the house. No one answered when he knocked on the door. "Maybe she went out on a ride." Jimmy thought out loud, but he had a sinking feeling in his gut.

When Jimmy rode back to the way station everyone was already up and beginning their chores. "Jimmy you missed breakfast." Rachel said when he got off the horse.

"Lou, found this at Rayne's." He handed Lou the letter. Quickly she opened and scanned it. It was a few seconds before she said anything. "What does it say?"

"It says that she's gone for a few days. Wants me to look after Beau."

"Does it say where she went?" Buck asked.

Lou shook her head. "No it just says Lou, I had to get out of town. I'll be gone for a few days. Look in on Beau for me if you don't mind. Rayne."

"What'll we do Teaspoon?" Cody asked.

"What do you me what do we do? We don't do anything. Rayne will be back maybe she just needs a little time." Teaspoon nodded. "I'm going into town anyone coming?"

"I am." Jimmy said. "I got business." Teaspoon raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Why she just take off without telling me?" Lou muttered to herself as she went back to her chores. She was hurt that her friend hadn't told Lou of her plans. Was it because of what happened yesterday? But Rayne wasn't the type to turn tail and run.

"It's like Teaspoon said, she just probably needed some time. Ain't nothing to worry about." Kid tried to reassure her.

"I ain't worried, Rayne can take care of herself. I just wonder why she didn't tell me." Lou said but smiled appreciatively at Kid when he put his hand on her shoulder. "After what happened yesterday, I just hope she's okay."

"Don't worry. She's fine."

Teaspoon and Jimmy pulled their horses up in front of the Marshal's office. "Jimmy you stay away from Hudson. You hear me?"

"I ain't planning on running to him, I got some other business to look into." He said. "But if he tries something, I can't make any promises."

"Jimmy stay away. You're going to see Tilly ain't you." He said it more as statement than a question. Jimmy just looked at him. "Are you so sure that's smart? You wouldn't want her prying into her life." 'Her' being Rayne.

"Teaspoon, there's something going on with her and it's eating her up inside. It's gonna kill her if she don't deal with it. Now she's gone." Jimmy told the older man. "She ain't going to tell us what it is, so I'm going to find out."

"You sure that's wise?" Teaspoon asked but Jimmy didn't turn around to answer. Instead he walked strait over to the saloon.

Tilly was wiping down Gus' piano when Jimmy walked in. She walked the young man walk toward her his hat in his hands. "Hello, 'mam." She held out and met his out stretched hand. "My name's James Hickok."

"I know who you are son." She said warily. "Call me Tilly. What I really want to know is why are you here?

"Well 'mam, I was wondering if I could ask you something?" He said slowly. 

"Sit down." She offered him a chair. "Let me guess you're asking 'bout Rayne." Tilly eyed the man. James Hickok didn't look near as threatening as everyone said that he was. The young man that sat before her had an almost shy nature to him. His eyes were soft but observant. When he nodded she took a deep breath. "Why?"

Jimmy sensed that the way he answered would determine how much the woman told him. "You heard about what went on with the MacMurphy brothers, I'm guessing." Tilly nodded. "And I saw you there yesterday when that mess happened." 

Again Tilly nodded. She had seen the young man there when that horrible lieutenant attacked Rayne. He had looked like Tilly felt. She was sure that if the Lieutenant had stepped out of line again that Jimmy would have put a hole through him.

"Well I just know that something is eating at her but she won't let anyone know what. And now she's taken off."

Tilly raised her eyebrows. "She still running off is she? Don't worry when she gets the notion she'll be back. Been running off like that since she was little. First time she did it had the entire saloon, well most of it anyway, in an uproar. We searched the town, the forest, everywhere. Then just like it nothing was the matter she walked in the back door. Then every now and again when she wanted she'd disappear for a few days. I swear to you each time would scare the living daylights out of me, but then she just walk back in like nothing was wrong." A faint smile was on her lips at the memory. "I always wondered if she ever stopped."

"Why?" He asked, wondering why she ran.

"Never asked. Just told her not too. She didn't listen. Jimmy why don't you get yourself a drink. I got a feeling that you're going to be here a while if you want all your questions answered. I'll answer as much as I feel I can." 

Chapter 18

"Rayne was the most wonderful little girl you ever saw." Tilly said. "Smart as a whip, friendly. You know she never met a stranger. When she was born it was like someone let loose a bundle of sunshine into Nelly's. I hadn't wanted Abby to have her but I can't imagine how different life would have been without her." Jimmy raised an eyebrow at that comment. "A whore house ain't no place for a baby to grow up." She said answering his unspoken question. "It was amazing how much you can give somebody and if it ain't what they need then it's nothing."

"I don't understand." Jimmy said. The woman that Tilly was describing didn't sound anything like the Rayne he knew. What had changed the trusting little girl into the untrusting wary woman?

"Rayne, the only thing that she wanted was Abby's attention. Abby was the center of Rayne's world but Abby was also the center of Abby's word. She had no time for her daughter. Rayne would follow her around all day and Abby would yell at her. I swear that woman must have been the devil on earth." Tilly said angrily. "No matter how much attention me and the other girls gave her, Rayne craved a smile from Abby. Then when she was about seven years old Rayne started going downhill. Her mood changed, her eyes changed. Every time Abby left a room it was like she took the light from Rayne with her."

Jimmy's jaw clenched and unclenched. It was hard for him to hear such things happening to a child. "Why did she care so much about Abby if Abby was never a mother to her?"

"I wish I knew. I think that somewhere somehow Rayne got it into her head that no one could love her if her mother didn't love her. So Rayne did everything to get Abby to love her. She would sit perfectly still for hours if Abby told her to be quiet. She refused to go outside if Abby told her to stay clean. The more Abby pulled away from her, the more Rayne pulled away from everyone else. It was like she began looking at everyone like they were lying to her when they told her she was good or pretty. Damn Abby for doing that to that child. It was like she was killing Rayne right in front of us. When Jeremy Elliot took her away I wept with joy as well as sorrow."

"What was Jeremy Elliot like?" He already had a picture of the man in his mind. A man who made his daughter work like a dog didn't rate to highly in his book. "Was he hard? Did he hurt her?"

"Jeremy Elliot was the best thing in Rayne's life. I've never seen a man who love his little girl more. Problem was that he never told her that he was her father and she never knew that he loved her." 

"Why did he make her work on his ranch then? Why wasn't she with the other children?"

"Mr. Elliot's wife wouldn't allow it. That was the reason that he didn't take Rayne the day she as born. He had two other legitimate daughters that were spoiled and useless. Mr. Elliot had the craziest notions that girls could do the same jobs as boys and freely employed women on his ranch." Tilly shook her head. "He wanted Rayne to be able to earn her way in the world. I knew a woman who worked as a cook on the Belle Fille for a few years and she kept me posted on the happenings. I knew almost everything until Rayne was fifteen and Gus and I moved."

Jimmy smiled. "So that's why she gets so mad when we try to help her. Her head has been filled with the strange notions."

"Oh on. Mr. Elliot merely helped. Rayne has been stubborn since the day that she was born. Never wanted help from anyone. Besides I hear that you were in that saloon when she took out those men. I wager you should be glad at Jeremy's teaching."

"I never said he didn't do a good thing. She can ride and shoot just as well if not better than any man. But she said that Jack Slade taught her to shoot?"

"Who do you think hired Jack Slade? Jeremy wouldn't ever go anywhere near Rayne, he merely watched from a distance. He surrounded Rayne with people who could teach her everything he wanted her to know." She gave him a smug smile as if it was her that hired the men.

"Did you spend a lot of time with her at the Belle Fille?" He asked.

"No." She said quietly and looked out the window. "After that night that Jeremy took her, no one ever saw her in person again. As girls came and left only a few of us remembered or cared where she was. When I left only Nelly and myself knew who Rayne was. Nelly pass on a two years ago and her son runs the old place now."

"What happened the night Jeremy took her? You said it was a catch in your voice." 

"I will not talk about it. Rayne doesn't even remember and I don't think you should know if she doesn't." Tilly said shortly. 

"I'm sorry. I just want to understand all of this. Why she doesn't trust people? Why she won't open herself to anyone? There are people who care about her but she changes her moods with the wind." He said softly.

Tilly stared at the man at the table. Was this kind soul the man they called "Wild Bill"? He look like he genuinely cared for Rayne. She wondered how much he cared for her. "It will take a lot of patience to deal with Rayne. She fights off everyone like a wild cat but I wonder what will happen if she ever stops fighting." She said absently.

"I hope to find out." Jimmy though to himself. His eyes moved to the window. Why was he pushing this so hard? What was it about Rayne that made him want to help her? When he turned back to Tilly he didn't understand the twinkle in her eyes. "Tilly why doesn't she want anyone to touch her?"

"Why that question?" She thought as her face paled dramatically. 

"Are you okay, Tilly?" He asked concerned.

"You do know how to pick the difficult questions, don't you?" Jimmy didn't understand but something in her voice made her brace himself for what was to come. Tilly took a deep sigh. "A few months before Rayne left with Jeremy Elliot something happened. As you know, well, Abby, me, and the others were working girls. Because we had to work at night Abby used to lock Rayne down in the cellar. It wasn't the most wonderful place for a child but all the rooms were in use and we couldn't very well leave her out, it was too dangerous. There were a couple of times when some of the men tried things so it was safer for her here. Or at least that's how we made ourselves feel better. Rayne was ten at the time."

Jimmy thought he began to see where this was going and began to pale. He was angry. What kind of man would rape child? Poor Rayne. He had heard that such things made women never want to be with a man again.

She saw the ideas come into his head and knew what he was thinking was wrong. How she wished she could stop and not tell the story. "Anyway one of Abby's regulars that been dumped from Abby's schedule. He had who knew who Rayne was and where she was and thought that if he couldn't have Abby then…" She let her voice trail off, tears began to form in her eyes. "Well he burst into the cellar and try to have his was with Rayne." She put her arms around herself and then wiped away tears that fell. Her husband came up and put his arms around her. "But Rayne she wasn't about to let him. She fought him like a tiger." Tilly almost smiled through his tears. "Somehow Rayne managed to find a knife and stab the man before he could do anything." Tears fell like raindrops. "The man collapsed on her, dead. Right on top of that little girl."

"Oh god!" Was all Jimmy could think. His stomach was beginning to churn.

"And he was too heavy. She couldn't get out from under him." She was crying freely. "When we went to unlock the door the body was stiff and Rayne was frozen under it. I thought that she was dead." She cried. "She never let anyone ever touch her again. I tried to hold her and she would kick and scratch to get away. Finally I just gave up. Everyone just gave up. Rayney I'm so sorry." Gus pulled her into his arms and motioned to Jimmy to leave.

Jimmy walked out of the saloon almost in a state of shock. So that was why she didn't want anyone to touch her, he didn't blame her. But he still had more questions. Why didn't Rayne believe that anyone else cared about her? Who took care of her when she went to Jeremy's? The only people that Rayne mentioned were ranch hands. Was there someone that she turned too? Who held her when she had a nightmare? Who wiped her tears away when she cried? He pictured a little girl curled up on a bed her knees tucked under her chin, tears running down her dirty face. Who told her that she wasn't alone? He walked into Teaspoon's office. Who had kept his Rayne safe?

"Did you find out what you wanted to know?" Teaspoon asked but Jimmy didn't respond.

"Did he just refer to Rayne as 'his'?" Jimmy was stunned. No, it was merely a slip in his thinking process. Vaguely he was aware that someone was calling his name.   


"Jimmy, Jimmy?" Teaspoon called.

"What? Did you say something?"

"Ya I asked if you found out what you wanted to know?" Jimmy looked like someone had just walked over his grave.  


"Yes, no, I don't know." He said.

"Answering the questions that you had only lead to more questions, huh?" 

"Something like that." Jimmy's mind was still somewhere else.

"What do you think that Rayne's going to do when she finds out you been snooping in her life?" Teaspoon asked. "And she will find out."

"I'm sure that it won't be anything short of a bullet in the head." Jimmy smiled. "Anything else and I'll be disappointed."

Chapter 19

"Eight days." Lou thought as she sat down to breakfast. "Eight whole days." Lou hadn't realized that she would miss Rayne so much. Since Rayne moved to Sweetwater she became Lou's friend and confidant. It was Rayne who knew all about Lou and Kid's problems and it was Rayne who talked her through them logically. She sat down next to Jimmy who looked as miserable as Lou felt. All week long he snapped and bit people's head off. "Hey."

"Hey." He nodded hello at her. Jimmy dug into his breakfast when he heard a familiar sound.

"Where is everyone?" Rayne yelled as she rode up to the house. Yona barked happily.

Lou and Jimmy looked at each other and broke out into smiles. Everyone rushed outside to see Rayne sitting atop Loki smiling at them. Her clothes were dirty with trail dust and her hair was in disarray but she looked happy. Next to Loki was a smaller dapple-gray mare. It flipped it's black tail nervously and stared at the approaching people. The horse was loaded down with supplies.

There was a rousing chorus of hellos and a bombardment of questions. Rayne laughed. "Everyone shut up!" She called and smiled when the looked at her. "Man, it was so quiet for the past few days. If you don't shut up how else am I going to give you you're presents."

"Presents?" Cody asked.

Rayne had spent days riding around the countryside. She was embarrassed at the way she just ran off and decided to make it up to the people she had grown close too but she didn't know how. So she rode into Cheyenne and began to shop. The best way that she knew to express her feelings was to spend some of the money Mr. Elliot left her. "Yep, everyone got presents. Teaspoon your should be here on the stage today. It's a new chair for you office. Was I supposed to keep that a surprise?"

"Rayne you didn't have to do anything like this, you know?" Teaspoon said.

"I know I didn't have to but I did. So there, I don't want to hear any complaints." She said finally. Then she reached across to the other horse and pulled out two thin white boxes and peeked inside the first one. "Okay this one's for Rachel and this one's Lou's." She handed them the boxes.

Rachel opened the box and gasped. Inside was a blue dress the color of the sky. It was the latest style and easily the best dress Rachel had seen. "Oh Rayne, you shouldn't have." 

"The next person who says something like that, I shoot." She said. 

Lou was stunned. The dress that was in her box was a pale lilac color it wasn't as flashy as Rachel's was but it was made mostly of satin. It was entirely impractical because the dress was very sturdy but Lou had never seen anything more beautiful. "Rayne this is too expensive." Then looked into the box and saw a small bottle of perfume. She opened it and smelled the sweet smell of flowers.

"No it wasn't. Beside I owe both of you dresses after I got the you other one's ruined." Lou opened her mouth to say something else but Rayne didn't let her. "Cody, you ready." She handed him a small package and a rifle.

Cody held the rifle; it was the .45 Marlin-Ballard like the one that he had admired in Tompkins store. One of the best rifles of the area. For once Cody was speechless. He tore into the package and pulled out a book and read the title aloud. "The Compete works of William Shakespeare. Rayne I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything. Buck." She handed Buck a small box. 

He opened it carefully. "I've never seen anything like this." Inside was a large knife that was very similar to the one that he already had, only more ornate, in a leather case that could be strapped to someone's leg. On the leather case was the picture of a large stag. Buck pulled the knife out of the case and turned it in his hand. In grave on was side were words in a language that he didn't recognize. "Che cosa non uccide li rendete più forti?" The words were a little butchered.

"It's an Italian proverb. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." She looked at Buck and he nodded faintly.

"Who's next? Noah check the horse." She ordered him.

Noah walked to the horse but didn't see anything. He stared back up at her. "Kid you might as well look at it with him." Kid joined Noah but they both looked confused. The only thing left on the horse was a dark leather saddle and a halter with silver plating on it. Noah began staring at the halter; there was something almost familiar about it. "Do you see it Noah?" She asked as the man ran his hands along the halter.

"Are you serious?" He asked. This halter and bit matched his silver saddle almost perfectly. It was like they were part of the same set. 

Rayne smiled. "Yep. Is it going to match? I don't know if it's similar enough."

"It's perfect. I can't accept it." Noah said solemnly.

Her eyes narrowed. "Noah, I don't do a lot of nice thing and you better take this one or I'll shoot you. Now I don't want to hear anymore. Kid have you figured you're out yet?"

"I get the saddle." He said running his hands over it. It was made of dark, soft, leather. It was ten times nicer than the one he had for Katy now but he felt the same as Noah. "I can't-"

All of a sudden a Colt Dragon was leveled with his head. "Damn it Kid what part of 'I don't want to hear it' don't you understand. I'll shoot you I swear it. Now take the damn saddle off this horse and go put it on Kady like I know you want to." He grinned up at her and began taking the saddle off.

Jimmy stared up at Rayne. He was so happy it frightened him. She reached into Loki's saddlebag and pulled out a small black velvet bag. "Jimmy this is yours." He heard her say. When he opened the bag a gold pocket watch fell out in his hands. He was so surprised to see that she got him something like that. When he pushed the button that popped the watch open he saw that his name had been engraved on the inside. 'James Butler Hickok' was written in delicately carved twirling letters. 

His eyes met hers and she smiled at his look of disbelief. It had taken her the longest to pick out his present because she didn't know what to get him. "Okay well then I guess I'm done. I'm going into town to give Tilly her gift."

Ike was distressed. She had forgotten him. Hurt was written all over his face. Then he bowed his head and looked at the ground. Buck saw the look on his friend's face and was shocked that Rayne hadn't gotten Ike a gift. 

"Oh wait. Ike?" Rayne said sharply. When he looked up at her she was shocked at the hurt in his eyes. "Did you really think that I forgot you?" She said accusingly.

He signed something to her and smiled. She hadn't forgotten. The joy in his eyes was apparent. 

It took her a moment to figure out what he had said but then scoffed at him. "You are not easy to over look. Let me tell you it took some work finding your gift. I had to travel an extra day out of my way just to pick it up." She sounded angry but Ike saw the light in her eyes and knew he was teasing him. 

As Rayne talked she began to unravel the rope around her saddle horn. "Here you go." She handed him a few pieces of paper. He read them and looked confused. "Ike catch." She threw the rope to him.

He followed the rope and saw the beautiful dapple horse on the other end. The horse danced nervously. Ike studied the animal. Not very tall maybe 15 hands, dark legs that faded to a gray body, and a black main and tail. Ike signed something to Rayne. "That's right she's yours. Ike McSwain I'd like you to meet Maria's Ghost. Ghost for short. Those papers show that she's a registered Arabian. Ghost is three years old. And Ike, she flies. I know I tried her out. Now maybe you can keep you hands off my horse." She laughed. Ike was already getting aquatinted with the horse.

"Okay well now I've got go. I've got to go see Tilly." She said. "I'll see you later."

"Rayne come back for dinner." Rachel said.

"Okay," she called over her shoulder as she rode off. Lou and Jimmy stood watching her go. They had hoped that she would have stayed for the day but instead they had only a few minutes. In fact she had never even gotten off her horse.

Cody flipped through his book. "This was better than Christmas." Kid ran off to try his new saddle on Katy. Rachel had gone back into the house. Ike was halfway done saddling Ghost, intending on taking the horse for a ride. Noah was reading over Cody's shoulder. "This Shakespeare guy new his stuff."

"I'm going to town." Teaspoon said. He was amazed at the money Rayne had spent on presents. Where did she get all that money? He bet Jimmy knew but didn't ask. Jimmy hadn't told anyone anything that he learned from Tilly. When he got to town he asked if the stage was in, truth of it was he wanted to see his new chair.

Chapter 20

Jimmy was mending the fence on the corral when he heard the horse ride up. He didn't think anything of it because he assumed it was one of the other riders and continued to hammer away. Then he heard the gun cock and turned around slowly to see a very angry Rayne with her gun pointed at him.

"Who the hell do you think that you are Jimmy Hickok?" She spat at him. "I've told you a dozen times to mind your own business." She didn't even smile when he began to back away from her.

"I- I'm sorry." He tried to apologize. 

"What gave you the right?" The other riders were watching with awed expressions. Rayne's eyes were black with rage. Jimmy continued to try to back up but ran into the fence.

"Look I'm sorry. I just--" He couldn't find the words he needed to get him out of the situation. He had known that Rayne was going to be mad but he hadn't expected this. "Let's go somewhere and talk about this." Nodding to the other riders, he assumed that she didn't want them all to know what he knew.

"You mean that they don't already know?" Rayne accused him. "What you're just a snoop and not a gossip. Well gee- thanks Jimmy."

"Rayne." He said sternly. 

  
"Don't take that tone with me. You want to go somewhere else and talk about it fine with me. There won't be any witnesses." She said and jumped up on Loki and took off. Jimmy walked over to Kady, who still had the new saddle on, jumped on and went after Rayne.

When she finally stopped she realized that she was in the middle of no where. She turned in a circle and saw flat plains stretching out for miles. Jimmy stood behind her and she turned to look at him. 

Jimmy expected to see the same rage that he had seen at the way station but it wasn't there. Instead she looked at him with eyes full of hurt and embarrassment. He had to look away because the emotions in her eyes were too raw for him to look at. "I'm sorry." He said softly.

"Why Jimmy? I don't understand. Why would you do that to me?" She was so confused. What had made him want to hurt her like that? When Tilly had told her everything that she told Jimmy, Rayne almost died. Now he knew what a bad person she was. Why would he want to know that?

"I didn't mean to hurt you. I just wanted to know you."

"You do know me." She said.

"No, I don't. None of us do. You only tell us what you want to tell us. For Christ sake I don't even know your middle name." He explained.

"So what? Do I know everything about you or the others? You have secrets, why can't I?" She asked him.

"But," How did he explain this? Could he explain this? He didn't even know why he did it. "You can have secrets. I was just so tired of being so far away."

"I don't understand."

"You keep all of us at arms length. And get mad when we try to get closer or when we try to help."

"I don't get mad when you try to help, I get mad when you think I can't do something." Rayne said.

"What about that thing with Hudson before you left? I was trying to help you and you yelled at me and then ran away." Jimmy accused.

"I didn't need your help. I can handle Hudson." 

"You can't do everything by yourself." He said pointedly. "Why do you get mad when I try to get close to you?"

"I don't."

"Yes you do." He watched her as he spoke. She was seemed so delicate right now but there were other times when he swore she could take on an army. "Why didn't you tell me anything about your life? Why did I have to go to Tilly to find out things about a person I care about?" He couldn't believe he said that but it was too late to take back. Suddenly the look that she gave him made him understand what Tilly meant when she said that Rayne looked at her like she was lying. Disbelief washed over Rayne's entire being, she even took a step back. "Why do you hide inside yourself? What are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid of anything!" She said. What was happening? Jimmy lied to her, she never thought that he would lie to her. People don't care about her, she knew that much. He didn't care; he was just nosy and now a liar. Anger overwhelmed confusion. "What was I supposed to tell you? That I was a horrible person? That everything I touch turns to horse manure? Why should I tell you? You would have figured it out sooner or later. Everyone does."

What was she talking about? Jimmy was confused. "You're not a horrible person."

"Shut up Jimmy. How would you know? Like you said before you don't even know me." She spat at him.

Why was she getting so angry? Suddenly another flash from his conversation with Tilly entered his head. The woman had said that Rayne fought everyone off like a wild cat and that was what she was doing to him now. He must be hitting something that she didn't want him to get close to. "I don't know everything about you but I know that you are not a bad person."

"Shut up Jimmy!" She yelled.

"You're not!" He yelled back.

"Shut up."

"Rayne you're not!"

"Jimmy I killed someone when I was 10. Do you understand I was still a child and I took someone's life." She yelled and then sank to the ground. "I'm a horrible person." She whispered.

When he knelt down in front of her Jimmy stared for a few seconds before he spoke. "He would have hurt you. It was self-defense. That doesn't make you a horrible person." He put his fingers under her chin and tried to make her look at him but she pulled away.

"Yes it does. He wasn't a bad man, he was just drunk. I knew him. He bought me toys and I killed him. I am a murderer." She said and looked at the ground, a knot in her throat. "Abby told me I was."

He opened his mouth in shock. Abby, Rayne's mother called her a murderer when she was a child. The little girl had saved herself and the mother cared about the man that had died. A new hatred bloomed inside him for the woman. "What else did Abby tell you?" He asked.

"That I was bad and ugly." She said after a few minutes. Her voice was so soft that Jimmy had to lean closer to hear it. When she began to talk it was almost as if she was reciting what she was saying from word for word from memory, which was probably true. "She said that she couldn't stand to look at me because I was so bad. And that everyone knew what a disgusting little girl I was because they could see it in my eyes. She said that my eyes were filled with evil gray smoke."

Everything in his being told him to reach out to the girl and hold her until her pain went away but when he tried she stood up and backed away from him. Now there was fear in her eyes. "The other's don't know yet. Please don't tell them." She pleaded. "I like it here. I've never had this many people to talk to at once. On the ranch most everyone ignored me. Let me have the time until they find out. Just let me be happy for a little longer." 

Jimmy was taken aback. She believed everything that came out of her mouth. She thought that one day the riders would see that she was an evil person and never talk to her again. "Rayne, you aren't evil."

"I don't care what you tell me, just promise not to tell them. I'll never talk to you again if that's what you want." 

"Damn it Rayne. Listen to me! You are one of the kindest, selfless people I know. You risked so much to save me, Buck and Teaspoon and some girl you didn't even know. No one besides that mother of yours thinks you're evil. And she was a liar."

"Leave my mother out of this James Hickok!" Rayne snarled. "You don't even know her."

"Neither do you." He thought to himself. So this was what Tilly meant about Rayne's mother being the center of her world. She would rather believe bad things about herself that came from her mother than the entire world of people that told her otherwise. "Rayne listen to me. No matter what you think. Listen to what I say. I have not, do not, or will not ever think that you are a bad person. Do you hear me? I don't want you to stop talking to me." She nodded but she wore her look of disbelief. "I haven't told anyone what I learned from Tilly. In fact Teaspoon is the only one that even knows I talked to her."

Rayne shoulders dropped with relief. He wasn't going to tell the others about her, but he knew. But he had to hate her. Abby always told her that people lied about what they felt so they would look better to other people. She stared up a Jimmy with a regretful look. Jimmy was the one that angered her the most but he was also the one that made her the happiest. Sometimes when he smiled at her she thought that he was different. For some reason the time that she had held Jimmy hostage came back to her. It was the first time in a long time that she had been close to another human being. 

"Let's go back to the house." He said as he walked toward Kady. Yona was lying on the grass. With all the yelling going on the dog hadn't once gotten up to stop him. The dog knew that he wasn't going to hurt Rayne. When he turned to look at Rayne he couldn't do anything but stare. She was standing like a statue. Her hat was hanging down he back and her long hair was tossed in different directions by the wind. But her eyes were what captured Jimmy. Abby had told Rayne that her eyes were evil but that was the furthest thing from the truth. Inside her eyes was a child that was scared and lonely and Jimmy swore to himself that somehow he would chase that all away and she would never be scared or lonely again.

He knelt down and rubbed the dog's head. "Tell her that I'm not going to hurt her." He whispered to the dog. "Tell her that I'm not going away like everyone else has. Okay? She'll listen to you." 

The door closed to Lt. Hudson's office and Oliver smiled in his chair. On his desk was the key to his revenge. He ran his hands over the pieces of paper. Rayne Kincade would be his by this time tomorrow or else she would be dead, but one way or the other he would win. 

Chapter 21

Rayne was saddling Loki when the riders rode up with serious looks on their faces. "Hey what's wrong?" She said worriedly and looked around to see whom was missing. "Where are Teaspoon and Ike? Did something happen to them? Is Rachel okay?"

"Rayne pack some food, a blanket, and whatever else you need. Hurry!" Lou ordered.

"What's going on?" She said as watched Jimmy and Noah get off their horses and run into her house. "Where are they going?"

"Finish saddling Loki, Jimmy and Noah will pack." Kid said.

"Tell me what's going on!" Rayne screamed.

"It's Hudson. He's coming here to arrest you. You have to get going until Teaspoon can straighten this out." Buck tried to explain. 

"Arrest me? What for?"

Lou was dreading telling her friend the news because she knew what Rayne's reaction was going to be. "Here look at this." She handed Rayne the wanted poster.

On the poster was a drawing of Rayne. In big bold letters at the top of the poster were the words: WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE. Below her face in smaller letters were: Murderer and Horse Thief. Reward $300. "What is this?"

"Hudson says that you killed Loki's owner and stole the horse." Jimmy said from behind her in his hands were her saddlebags full of food and clothing. "You've got to get out of here now."

"But it's a lie. I inherited Loki." Then a horrific though came to her. The bad things that she had done washed over her and she knew that the others had to know. They knew she was evil. It didn't matter that she hadn't done what Hudson said that she did, the idea had been placed in their heads. It was too late.

"None of us believe it. You just got to get out of town." Jimmy read her face. He knew that everything Abby had told her was flooding into her memory. He heard the thundering of hooves in the distance. "She thinks that we all hate her." He thought to himself.

She threw herself on the horse and grabbed the things that Jimmy handed her but it was too late. Hudson was there before she could leave. "Get off the horse. Killer." He snarled.

"Loki is mine." Rayne yelled. "I killed no one to get him." Yona snarled at the man on the white horse.

"That's not what this wanted poster says."

"Everyone remain calm." Teaspoon said as he moved out of the crowd. He didn't for a minute believe that Rayne had done any of the things that Lt. Hudson said that she did. Hudson was just trying to get revenge but he had no proof.

"Get off that horse." Oliver yelled again, he raised his gun to the horse. "Or I'll shoot it out from under you." 

"Don't, I'll get off." Rayne had gone deathly pale at the thought of loosing her beloved horse and Oliver knew that he found her Achilles heel. She slid down and stood between his gun and the horse. "You know I didn't do any of that Oliver. Why are you doing this?"

"You are the murderer, I am merely the law." He said. "Now mount up." He pointed to an old broken down packhorse with no saddle, ignoring the dog that was jumping around and growling at him. Rayne didn't move. "Get on or I'll shoot the dog." Slowly Rayne began to move to the horse.

"Now just a minute Lieutenant. This isn't a military matter." Teaspoon began. The other rider's backed around him and Rayne. "This is a town matter, that falls into my jurisdiction. I'll take the prisoner in."

Oliver didn't like the way that his plan was turning. He hadn't thought about all the details. Rayne was supposed to ride back to Sweetwater with him where he would give her the choice of being with him or being hanged. The wanted posters were the finally touch, he had to have them sent from Kansas so that no one around would know about him falsifying them. "I don't think so marshal." 

" Sorry sir, It's the law." Teaspoon shrugged.

Jimmy's eyes were blazing. There wasn't any way that he was going to let Hudson take Rayne anywhere. If it meant his blood he would keep Hudson away from her. His hand moved to his gun and rested there. Then he moved so he was right next to Rayne.

There were four other soldier's standing behind their lieutenant. They couldn't figure out why there were here chasing after some ordinary criminal. Hudson always told them that the town wasn't important. It didn't make sense that he would try to fight for this one except for the fact that it was the woman that he had fought with a week ago.

The men behind Oliver Hudson were murmuring. It sounded suspiciously like they were agitated. They hadn't wanted to come and he knew that they weren't happy. And men who weren't happy had big mouths. At least they didn't really understand what was going on.

But the lieutenant was as blind as he was ignorant. His men knew that he was after the woman and far be it from them to say that their commanding officer shouldn't chase tail. The thing that they didn't understand was why this woman was so special. There were more beautiful and defiantly more willing women at the local whorehouse, they knew from experience. 

"Fine you can take her in if you want." Oliver said. He could just question her later. "But I'm taking the evidence." He grabbed the horse's reigns." His action produced its indented reaction.

"No!" Rayne yelled and leapt at the man that was no longer there. "Let him go you bastard." She ran toward the man but something stopped her.

Chapter 22

If he let Rayne go, Jimmy knew that she would pull her gun on Hudson and give him the excuse he needed to shoot her. The image of Rayne's bullet-ridden body washed through his brain and made him sick. He wrapped his arms around her more tightly, ignoring the claws that tried to rip the flesh off his hands and the kicks that were meeting his shins. "Let me go!" 

Yona didn't know who to go after first. One was the man that she hated more than anything was laughing at her mistress. The other was a man that she knew was a friend only he was attacking her mistress. Yona trusted that Jimmy wouldn't hurt Rayne so she leapt at the man on horseback, startling the white horse. Hudson wasn't prepared for the horse to rear and he landed on the ground. Immediately Yona was on him her teeth aiming for his throat. Suddenly the world went black for the dog.

One of the soldiers had seen the dog go after his lieutenant and almost shot him. But the dog was only trying to protect his master and the solider couldn't bring himself to shoot the animal. Instead he walked over and swung the end of his rifle into the dog's head. It was knocked out.

"Noooo!!!" Rayne screamed. Everyone looked at her because when she yelled it was gut wrenching. "I'll kill you! I swear to God, I'll kill you!" 

Rayne was hysterical. Seeing the solider hit Yona had driven her over the edge. All she knew was that her cherished friend was lying on the ground not moving and the man who was responsible was laughing at her. "Bastard. I'll see you in Hell!! Let me go, I'm gonna kill you!

"Jimmy hold on to her!" Cody called out to him. He had never seen someone act that way before. It was as if demons possessed her soul.

Oliver shoved the dog off of him and got back on his horse. He laughed at the struggling girl. Then he took the reigns of her horse and began to leave. "He'll make a nice pack animal." Oliver called out to Rayne. Then looked at the others men who were standing around. "Good luck marshal! I expect to see her in her cell soon." 

Somehow Jimmy wrestled the girl to the ground and had managed to throw one of his legs over hers. One of his arms was wrapped around Rayne pinning her arms at her sides. Her back was nestled against his chest and his other hand covered her mouth. She bit the palm of his hand, tried to kick, and pull out of his grasp but he held her firm.

When Oliver turned back to look at his Rayne on the ground he was disgusted to see that Hickok had wrapped himself around her. Hudson's eyes traveled over her stopping at her chest as she took deep, ragged breaths. Then moved to her eyes. What he saw there nearly froze him. Her gray eyes gave him a look of death. It was like the devil himself was looking out through her eyes. He shook his head to break the stare and began to pull the horse away. It followed reluctantly.

Teaspoon watched until Oliver was far enough away and then turned to Jimmy who was still holding the girl. He looked into Jimmy's eyes, which were dark with concern and confusion. He could tell that Jimmy was talking to the girl but couldn't tell what was being said. The girl's look on the other hand was easy to read. It was rage. When he knelt down to talked to the girl it was like she just looked through him. 

Behind Teaspoon, Buck and Ike examined Yona. The dog's head was bleeding but it was breathing fine. She would be okay as so as she woke up. Ike looked over to give Rayne the okay but she wouldn't look at him.

Jimmy held on to Rayne for dear life. How could he do this to her? It was killing him to do this to her because he knew what someone touching her did to Rayne, but he didn't have another choice. If he let her go she would have gotten killed. Instead, he held on to keep her alive. She was tucked inside of the hollow of his chest and he rested his head next to hers. It didn't matter that his arms were bleeding from her nails or that he was holding so tight that his muscles were cramping, all that mattered was keeping her alive. His mouth next to her ear and he began to whisper to her like he did to calm down a wild horse. "Hush, Rayne. Calm down. Everything's going to be okay. Shh-" He soothed her but she was still tense.

"Jimmy let her up!" Lou said from behind him. She was scared for her friend, the way Jimmy was holding her it was a wonder she could breath. 

Everything told him not to let her go until she relaxed against him but from the feel of her that would take forever. It was as if anger was radiating through her body. Maybe if he just held on a little longer she would be okay.

"Jimmy," Kid called. "Let go."

He closed his eyes. The moment he let go was the moment he would lose her. She would turn on him with all the hatred that she had. As he moved his leg and let go of her he felt his chest constrict with pain of loss. She jumped out of his arms and he braced himself for the onslaught of anger but I didn't come. Instead she just ignored him. She ignored everyone.

Rayne didn't know where she was or what she was doing. The moment she was free she jumped up ran to Yona. She felt the dog's heart and knew that it had a strong and steady heartbeat. She looked at the gash on its head and knew that the dog wasn't going to wake up for a while. It killed Rayne but she knew that she was going to have to leave Yona behind. Her eyes filled with water but no tears fell.

"What is she doing?" Teaspoon wondered. The young woman was next to the dog stroking its head as it slept. Then she began talking to it in a soft voice. 

She stoked Yona's head and began looking down the road where Loki had been taken. Loki was trained not to leave Rayne. If he was taken he had been taught to come back. They had never had to put it the test but now Rayne was going to find out if the training had worked. Behind her she heard voices saying things like "What are we going to do? and "We need to come up with a plan?" but she paid them no mind. Her thoughts were on Yona and Loki. 

"We've got to do something Teaspoon?" Lou cried. "She didn't do the things that Hudson said she did."

"How do we get her out of this?" Cody asked. 

Buck listened to his friends with half an ear because in the distance he heard horse approaching. He looked over at Ike and asked, "Do you hear that?" Ike nodded. "Teaspoon we got a horse coming."

"Think its Hudson coming back for Rayne?" Kid asked.

"I'll kill him." Jimmy growled, his eyes never leaving Rayne's back. She was quiet, too quiet.

"No, he'd never come back to face us." Noah said as they all stared down the road. "He's too much of a coward."

"Then who is it?" Cody asked as Rayne got to her feet.

"Watch Yona, I'll come back for her. Give Beau to Rachel." Rayne yelled to them as Loki came into view. The rider's stood open mouthed as the horse ran to his owner and slowed for a moment so she could jump on. Rayne and Loki tore up the ground as they fled from the scene. 

Chapter 23

Four days later Jimmy, Cody, Buck, Lou, and Ike rode up to the Way Station and Rachel ran out to greet them. "What happened?" She yelled as the exhausted young people got off their horses. Kid held up his hands and Lou fell into them, she was so tired she could barely keep her head up. 

"We couldn't find her." She said as she lifted her head off the Kids shoulder. "Jimmy's taking it real bad."

At that moment Kid didn't care what Jimmy was feeling. All that he cared about was the fact that Lou looked like she hadn't slept in the four days she had been gone and Jimmy was responsible. The horses looked like they had been ridden to the bone. Kid scooped Lou up in his arms, paying no attention to her protests, and took her and laid her on his bunk. She was asleep before Kid put her down. "Good night, Lou." He brushed the hair away from her face and kissed her forehead.

"Buck, Ike what happened?" Noah called again. The last time he had seen his friends was four days earlier, when Ryane had jumped on Loki and rode away with Oliver Hudson and the soldiers on her tail. Everyone had immediately got on their horses and followed the pursuit. 

Somehow Rayne had lost the soldiers who were following her and when the soldiers got lost the riders were lost. Soon the soldiers had to give up and go back much to Oliver's disappointment. When the soldiers turned the rider's split and Teaspoon, Noah, and the Kid went back. They assumed that the others would find Rayne and be back by nightfall but it hadn't turned out that way. 

"I couldn't track her. I don't know how she got away. It was like she disappeared off the earth." Buck said as he made his way to his bunk.

"Jimmy wouldn't let up thought, kept saying that he had wasn't coming back without her. Lou had to pull a gun on him to get him to turn around. They fought, never heard such yelling. Lou won and we turned back. We rode back all day and night." Cody said as he and Ike followed Buck.

Jimmy hadn't said a word since he got back; he just began unsaddling his horse. "Jimmy what's gotten into you?" Kid yelled. He didn't say a word in return. Kid walked up to the man. "Where do you get off treating Lou like that? She's exhausted." Jimmy didn't listen he just picked the saddle up off the horse. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Kid pushed Jimmy.

In the blink of an eye, Jimmy turned and had the Kid on the ground and he was on top of him. He grabbed Kid by the collar of his shirt and lifted Kid's torso up off the ground and glared right into his eyes. "Nobody made Lou come, she wanted to, Rayne is her friend. We're here sleeping in comfortable beds while Rayne's still out there somewhere and I don't know where. Now do you have anything else to say to me?" He got off of Kid and let the other man up. "Where's Yona?" He yelled.

"She's in the barn, Jimmy." Teaspoon said, he had rode up when Kid pushed Jimmy. "She's tied up in one of the stalls. That dog's gone crazy without Rayne. Won't let anyone near her." Yona was still on the ground when Teaspoon had rode back. The dog woke up the next afternoon growling. It was like she knew Rayne was gone. "Be careful, Jimmy she's likely to attack anyone."

He walked toward into the barn. The dog growled and barked when Jimmy opened the door. Jimmy knew exactly how the dog felt. She knew that Rayne was out there somewhere and that the dog was being kept from her. When he approached the stall that held Yona the dog calmed. 

Yona could see the man was hurting too. She strained against the rope that held her. When he untied her Yona leapt on the man and buried her head in his hands. Jimmy sat down on the hay and petted the dog. His head leaned against the wall of the stall and he fell asleep the dog curled next to him. 

Noah walked in the barn after Jimmy didn't come out. He saw the man sleeping and went to wake him but the dog got in his path snarling. There was no way he was going to get to Jimmy while Yona was there, so he left. "Jimmy's asleep in the barn. Yona won't let anyone near him." He told Teaspoon.

"I figured as much. I knew he would take this hard but I didn't think it would be anything like this." Teaspoon said. 

"Where do you think she is? If Buck couldn't track her how are we going to find her?" Noah asked. 

Teaspoon shook his head. "We'll worry about that tomorrow. Now let's just let them sleep."

Oliver slammed his fist on the table; the frightened Private exited the room. The lieutenant had sent to him to watch the pony express riders to see if they would bring back the woman with them. The Private told Hudson that they men had returned empty handed and he had heard them say they hadn't found her. 

Hudson stood up and stared out at the empty streets, dusk was settling on the town. "Where are you my devil? I will have you or no one will." He told the darkness.

The sun was high in the sky the next day when Jimmy woke up. Yona was at his side as he made his way to he house his hands kneading the muscles in his neck. Why had he fallen asleep in the barn? He walked into the house and Rachel smiled at him and poured him a cup of coffee. "Where is everyone?" 

"Teaspoon's in town. Noah's on a ride and Kid's somewhere around her. Cody, Ike, Lou, and Buck aren't awake yet. I guess you five had a hard ride." Rachel said. Jimmy sat motionless. "So you want to talk about it?"

"About what?"

"About why you rode your friends and your horse till they were about to drop? About why you slept in the barn with that dog instead of your bed? About why you look like you're the one lost instead of Rayne?"

Jimmy glared at the woman; sometimes she had an annoying knack of hitting the nail on the head. "They rode hard because we all wanted to. I just fell asleep in the barn. And Rayne's not lost. I'm sure that she knows exactly where she is." He said stared into his coffee cup.

"But she's lost from you." Rachel said softly. 

"Look I'm just worried because she's got a dead or alive price on her head and I know Rayne won't let herself be taken alive. She's too damned stubborn. I don't want to have to bury her." He took a deep breath and shook his head at the idea of never seeing the girl again. 

"Oh, Jimmy." Rachel murmured. 

"Rachel, I'm going into town. I got to do something, I can't just sit here." He got up and walked out of the house. 

Rachel watched the young man ride away. She hadn't ever seen Jimmy like this. It was as if his need to find Rayne overwhelmed all other needs. "Jimmy Hickok," she said to the air. "If you don't find Rayne soon you're going to kill yourself trying." 

He didn't stop until he reached the saloon. There had to be another reason that Rayne left, it couldn't' just be because of the wanted poster that Hudson had. Rayne wasn't the type to take someone lying about her and not say anything about it. She had scared him when she left. It was as if the light was gone from her eyes and she didn't see anyone. Jimmy was going to find out everything he could and Tilly was the best way to do that. "Tilly," He called out as he barged in. "Tilly I need to talk to you."

The older woman walked down the stairs. She had seen the young man ride up and she was on the way downstairs. "What do you need Jimmy? Why is Rayne's dog with you? Is she okay?"

"She's gone again." Jimmy looked around the saloon. There was one other person at the bar, a drunken man that was passed out with his head on a table. He didn't pay the man any mind. But Yona began growling at the unconscious man. "Yona." He said but the dog didn't stop. "Yona get out." The dog turned and walked out of the saloon, her tail between her legs. "That damned Hudson. He said that she killed a man to get Loki."

Tilly gasped. "That's ridiculous. She told me that Jeremy Elliot gave her that horse and Rayne's not a liar." 

"I know that. But she ran off before we could clear her name. And I can't find her. I need you to tell me where she would go. Where can I find her, Tilly? I need to find her." He said insistently. "Please, Tilly."

She looked at the pleading man in front of her. "I don't know where she is."

"Tell me what I'm missing. Do you have any idea of where she could be?" 

"No," She shook her head. "It's not like Rayne to run when someone is accusing her of something that she didn't do. I'm surprised that Hudson's still alive."

"She tried to kill him. He knocked out Yona, then he tried to take Loki with him."

"You must have had to hold her back."

"You have no idea." He said regretfully, thinking of how he had felt when he let her go. Where ever she was he doubted that she would ever come anywhere near him again.

The reaction that Rayne must have had, to Jimmy holding on to her, dawned on Tilly and he looked at Jimmy. She knew the girl and knew that it would be hard for Rayne too even look at Jimmy in the same way. When Rayne had killed that man when she was a little girl, she killed all parts of her that wanted others. "Oh God." The man nodded at her. "I don't think that anyone has ever touched her for more than a moment in eight years. She's not going to forget it." Tilly watched as sadness crossed Jimmy's face and her heart went out to the young man.

"Somehow, Loki came back and she just jumped on and rode away. That was four days ago. We tried to track her but it's as if she disappeared off the planet." 

"Maybe she'll just come back, like all the other times." Tilly said hopefully.

"I don't think so. When she left it was like it wasn't her. She stared through everything. It was like we weren't there." He shook his head at the memory.

Tilly's face paled. She remembered Rayne acting like that only one other time. The night that Jeremy took her away she looked through everyone. It was like she couldn't see Tilly anymore. "Oh, son. We're in big trouble."

Chapter 24

"If it weren't a situation like this I wouldn't be telling you this story." Tilly told Jimmy seriously. "Rayne doesn't even remember what happened. The night that Rayne was taken away she acted like that. Like she couldn't see anyone."

Jimmy listened intently as Tilly talked. What he didn't see was that the supposedly drunken man turned his ear in Tilly's direction. Gus walked toward his wife. This story was going to be a hard one to tell. He sat down and grabbed her hand.

"After that incident that I told you about last time happened Rayne quit functioning. She stopped playing, stopped talking, and stopped laughing. It was like she had died with that man. When she began refusing food I wrote a letter to Jeremy Elliot. I told him that if he didn't get his daughter out of Nelly's she was going to die. About a week later Jeremy wrote back that he would be there in a few days to take her away." Tilly stared at the tabletop as she talked. She was lost in the memory of the night. "Abby was getting serious about a gambler that had been frequenting the bar. He was a no good, cheated at cards and killed a few people along his way. But Abby seemed taken with him. She heard that Jeremy was coming to get Rayne and hatched a plan to get one large payoff out of Jeremy."

"Did Rayne know about any of this?" Jimmy asked.

"No." Tilly shook her head. "Rayne didn't even know who Jeremy Elliot was. Abby and that Gambler planed to hold on to Rayne until Jeremy paid them an outrageous amount of money. When the night arrived Jeremy found out that Abby and Gambler were holding Rayne hostage. The Gambler came out holding Rayne in front of him. She was screaming and Jeremy went crazy with anger and immediately challenged the Gambler. That Gambler thought he was unbeatable with a six-shooter and they took the fight out on the street."

"Turns out that the Gambler wasn't that good. Jeremy dropped him quick. Rayne was standing staring at the Gambler on the ground half way between Jeremy and Abby. Jeremy called the little girl and she wouldn't move. Then Abby called the little girl. That bitch told her to 'come to mama, sugar.'" Tilly closed her eyes against the memory of Rayne's joyous face. The mother that had only ignored her finally was calling for her. "I have never seen a person's face equal the happiness on Rayne's face as she ran to that whore." She grimaced.

"What happened next?" Jimmy said gently.

"She turned on Rayne. The moment that Rayne was in arm's reach she grabbed her and pulled a gun on her. A gun on her own daughter." Tilly looked like she was going to be sick. "Then she yelled at Jeremy that if he wanted the 'brat' as she called Rayne, then he was going to have to pay. Jeremy offered her anything."

"What was Rayne doing during all this? Was she trying to get away?"

"No. That's when she just stopped. She just began staring off into space and not listening to what was happening around her. Jeremy was yelling that Abby could have all the money that he had and then threw everything he had with him on the ground. Abby let go of Rayne and ran to get the money. Rayne just stood there. When Abby let go of Rayne and bent down to get the money Jeremy pulled a gun on her. I swear to you that he was going to kill her." Tears were rolling down Tilly's cheeks. "That's the only time that Rayne move. She ran right in between Jeremy's gun and Abby."

That was the Rayne Jimmy knew. Even when she was little she was reckless with her own safety to help others. But what about that mother of hers. If she ever came anywhere near Rayne again, Jimmy wasn't sure he would be able to stand it.

"Jeremy grabbed Rayne and held her too him. She kicked and screamed trying to get away. Abby stood up and backed away, money in hand. When Jeremy let go of Rayne she stopped yelling and just stood still with that vacant look on her face. Jeremy tried to take the little girl's hand but she wouldn't let him. Instead she walked beside him as they moved to the horses. I thought that everything would be okay. I thought that Abby had her money and would just go away but I was wrong. She yelled something about Jeremy never being happy if she had a choice and shot at Rayne." 

Tilly's eyes changed from anger to admiration. "But that Jeremy. He knew something was up and pulled Rayne to him so that the bullet only grazed her arm. Rayne fell down and we all rushed over to her but she wouldn't have it. She jumped up and put her hand over her arm and kept walking to the horses. Jeremy told us that he would take care of her, get her to a doctor. Abby had run off, which was lucky for her because Jeremy was going to kill her. He put Rayne on the horse and they rode off. She never looked at us and never looked back. She didn't even cry. That was the last time we saw her."

"Does she remember what happened?"

"I don't think so." 

"So the last time she acted like that no one saw her again for eight years. Well that's not going to happen this time." Jimmy swore. "If I have to look through the entire country I'm going to find her."

Gus studied the man and saw determination in his eyes. "I remember something," He began. "It's a real long shot."

"I'll take anything I can get. Right now a long shot is better than no shot." Jimmy exclaimed.

"There was this girl that worked at Nelly's when Rayne was about 7. She was from around here somewhere. I think somewhere in the mountains. Wyoming territory, out were the gold is. And she used to tell Rayne stories about the mountains and animals where she was from. Rayne used to eat them up." Gus said.

"Do you remember the name?" He asked eagerly.

"I think it was something about an animal. It was a really long time ago. It was Deer," Gus thought out loud. "No, Elk, no Buffalo. Ya, I think that was what it was it Buffalo."

"Thanks Gus. I'm gonna bring her back." Jimmy shook the man's hand and began to walk out of the saloon.

"Jimmy," Tilly called after him. She met him as he walked toward her and looked at him intensely. "Don't hurt her."

"I don't plan to."

"I'm serious Jimmy. Don't quit on her like I did. She hiding from more than this Hudson man, she has been hiding for so long. If you are going to go after her don't stop." She put her hand on his sleeve. "Don't hurt her."

When Jimmy looked down at the older woman and nodded. "Tilly I'm going to find her, wherever she is. And I'm not going to stop for anything." He walked out the door.

Gus walked up behind his wife and put his hands on her shoulders. "Gus, I'm scared. I'm afraid he's not going to find her and we never see her again. I'm afraid he's going to find her and she's going to push him away and be lost forever." 

He steered his wife away from the door. "It's going to be fine."

The drunken man got up and walked out of the saloon and directly into the army office. Lt. Hudson pulled off the old jacket and took off the hat. He knew where Rayne was now and he was going to get her.

Chapter 25

"Jimmy," Lou called from the ground where she was laying to go to sleep. Jimmy was taking the first shift at keeping watch. Buck was asleep on the ground on the other side of the fire. "What's with you and Rayne?"

"Nothin'. What do you mean?" 

She gave him a withering look. "Jimmy Hickok I've never seen you like this. You're chasing after her like she's water and you're dying of thirst."

"No I'm not. She's a friend and I would do the same for anyone of you." His voice didn't sound convincing even to himself. He reached over and rubbed the top of Yona's head, the dog hadn't been out of his site since he untied her. Lou gave him a look that told him that she had another question but Jimmy silenced her. "Go to sleep Lou."

Lou closed her eyes but made a mental note not to let the subject go. She would ask more questions later. They had been heading deep into the Wyoming territory for three days and Jimmy was just going faster and faster. It was as if the closer that they got the more he wanted to be there already. When Jimmy had come in telling everyone that he was heading to the Wyoming territory to find Rayne everyone stared at him like he had lost his mind. But the next morning Jimmy, Lou, and Buck were saddled and ready to ride out. She smiled at the memory of Kids tender words as he said good bye. All the riders wanted to come but Teaspoon said that Russel Majors and Waddell wouldn't be able to send any replacement riders and he couldn't spare too many riders. In the end Jimmy wouldn't be held back, Lou was next to volunteer, and Buck said that he owed it to Rayne. So the three of them set out to find a little town called Buffalo. 

Rayne reigned Loki at the edge of a clearing. It had been over a week since she had left Sweetwater, but those first few days were just a blur. She headed north with no particular place in mind. When she finally realized that she was deep into the Wyoming territory she started heading toward a little mining town that that she remembered one of the girl's from Nelly's talking about. Every now and then she would look down at the ground expecting to see Yona running beside her and a wave of sadness would wash over her at the emptiness. Eventually she would go back and get her dog but she couldn't right now. 

When she reached Buffalo, it wasn't the little town she was expecting. Dirty miners walked around shouting obscene things at her, so she just kept going. She wanted to go where she didn't have to look at anyone and so that no one would see her. But she wasn't that lucky. 

Fifty miles outside of Buffalo she came across a two mining men harassing an Indian woman and child. She shouted at them to leave the woman alone and drew her gun. When they saw she was a woman they didn't pay her any mind. During the gunfight one man was shot in the arm and the other was killed. The man with the wounded arm mounted his horse and rode away. Rayne gave the dead man's horse to the woman and her child. Smiling at the irony, she had become what she had been accused of, a horse thief and a killer. The woman, who was a Crow, didn't understand English but managed to communicate through the sign language. The Crow woman was very grateful and told her of an abandon cabin deeper in the wood and that's where Rayne had stopped. 

The cabin, which was more of a shack, looked like it hadn't lived in for hundreds of years, the roof was full of holes, the walls were paper thin, and the door was off it's hinges. "Well, I'm glad it's the summer." Rayne rode up to the house and walked inside and began to look around. There were no walls inside the cabin. It was just a little area for the kitchen, with a table and an ancient stove, and a bedroom with a bed that was little more than a board. Rayne saw something that caught her eye, on the table in the kitchen that was covered in dust and dirt was a small disk. She picked it up and dusted it off and was surprised to find that it was a watch. 

A small, worthless watch, nothing special, but for some reason she couldn't put it down. With a small movement she slipped the catch and opened the watch. The mechanisms had long since quit working. Rayne cradled the watch in her hand like it was a priceless antique. It reminded her of the watch that she had given Jimmy. Images of the rider washed over her as she held the watch. Flashes of different smiles that he had given her danced in front of her. She remembered the way that he laughed, the way that he walked, the way that he yelled when he didn't get his way. She heard his voice on the wind around her. The looks that he gave her when he was angry with her seemed to be floating in her memory. When she shook her head to get rid of the images it didn't work. She remembered how he would shout at her one-minute and the next look at her like she was a child. 

How she wanted to hate him for holding her down when Oliver was taking Loki, but she couldn't. She knew that he was trying to stop her from challenging the awful man and for that it was forgivable. But try as she might she wasn't able to forget it. She tried to forget how small she felt next to him, how tight he held her with his arms around her, or how his chest was like a wall when she was pressed up against it. It was the first time in eight years that anyone had ever touched her for longer than a moment. Everything in her being told her to fight when someone touched her but this time there was something, a very, very small something, telling her that maybe she didn't have to fight. And that scared her more than anything had in a very long time. She didn't know what to do or how to get rid of the feeling that was inside her. Instead she balled up her fist and threw the watch against the wall as hard as she could. Because it was so old the watch crumbled easily. Rayne stared at the shattered watch on the ground with a little disappointment and then walked outside. 

Teaspoon pushed his hat up on his head as Cody walked through the door. "What can I do for you Cody?"

Cody held out piece of paper. "I've been thinking, Teaspoon."

"What's the occasion?"

"Ha-ha." Cody gave the older man a patronizing look. "I was wondering, Rayne came up here from Louisiana, right?" Teaspoon nodded. "And she had Loki before she got here, right?" Teaspoon nodded again. "So why does this wanted poster say to turn Rayne into Sweetwater? I mean shouldn't it say to turn her in to wherever the man was supposedly killed."

He read over the wanted poster and looked at the rider in shock. "Cody, you're a genius."

"Well, I knew I was smart but genius, I don't know. You're probably right. I mean I do excel in most things--"

"Shut up Cody. Come on we're going to pay Lt. Hudson a visit." Teaspoon yelled as he walked out the door. 

"I mean of all the riders you have I probably do think the quickest but the others have their strengths. So I wouldn't mention it to the others. Well you can mention it if you want to." Cody continued not even knowing that Teaspoon left the office.

The marshal poked his head back in and yelled at the younger man. "Cody quit babbling and get out here."

Cody looked around the room and noticed that he was alone. "Comin'."

Chapter 26

"Are you sure you haven't seen her?" Lou asked the bartender again.

"I said I ain't seen nobody that fit that description." The bartender yelled. He was a large man with greasy hair and a more than a few teeth missing. "Now order something or get the hell out."

"Ain't no need to yell." Lou said under her breath and walked out of the saloon. She met up with Jimmy and Buck outside. "Did you find anything?" 

"No," Buck answered. "It seems like no one has seen anything that remotely resembles her."

"Same here." Lou agreed. "Maybe she's not here. Maybe were in the wrong area totally."

"No she's here." Jimmy insisted.

"How do you know Jimmy? Did you someone say something?" Lou asked.

Jimmy shook his head. "It's just a gut feeling. Come on, let's keep looking."

"Where Jimmy, we've looked everywhere?" Lou raised her eyebrows.

"You know, we could ask the sheriff." Buck said ignoring the angry look Jimmy shot him. "I mean, if anyone's you know caught up with her he'd know. And if they'd been looking for her he'd know too."

"Make's sense to me Jimmy."

"All right." He agreed. "Let's go." And they walked toward the sheriff's office.

John Burke was an aging man that had long pasted his prime. One time he had been a great lawman but had long since succumbed to the bribes that were thrown his way. Now his primary job was to keep out to the way of Buffalo's top citizens and run Buffalo with a weak fist. The easiest way to find Marshal Burke was to look at the bottom of a whisky glass. When the riders entered the marshal's office he barely raised his head.

"Marshal?" Jimmy questioned the man siting with his chair propped up on the wall. The man didn't acknowledge him. "Marshal Burke, we were looking for someone. A girl, she's might have been see around here."

"Son, you ain't the only one looking for a girl around here. Try the whore house down the road." He said between drinks.

"No sir, you miss understood my friend." Lou said. "She's a friend of ours."

  
"Well why are you here asking me? If she's your friend why don't you know where she is."

"Because she's run off. Have there been any strange women around here?" Buck asked.

"Not that I recall. So many people come in and out of town that it's hard to tell who's been here and who just got here. But what does this girl look like?" He said but didn't exactly sound interested.

"She's as tall as me, dark hair, gray eyes, keeps to herself." Lou offered. "Good with a gun."

"No ain't seen anyone that fit that description." Marshal Burke said and took another drink of his whiskey. "Why she run off?"

"Someone accused her of something that she didn't do." Jimmy said shortly.

"Got a price on her head?" The marshal perked up at the thought of money.

"No," Jimmy growled. "We'll be going now." The three riders turned toward the door. 

Burke could here the anger in the man's voice and knew there was more to the story. Even in his state he knew when someone was trying to keep something hidden. People always paid to keep their secrets, secrets. "Now just a minute. I might have heard something that could help. But my memory's sketchy."

Jimmy heard the tone of the man's voice and knew what he was suggesting that they pay him to keep quiet. It was too much; Jimmy pulled his gun and put it even with the marshal's head. "Maybe this will help to jog you memory."

Another thing that Burke knew was that you don't mess with men who have guns at your head. "A couple days ago Curtis Sanders was yelling about some she-devil that killed his partner. Now everyone is pretty sure that Curtis killed Douglas cause they hit a vein on gold mine but it could be your girl."

"Where's this Curtis Sanders now?" Buck asked.

"I don't really know." Burke stuttered. Jimmy cocked the gun. "He's usually at the Gold Mine Saloon at the end of town." When he lowered the gun, Jimmy glared at the man and they left the office.

"Think that it's Rayne?" Lou asked.

"Yeah." Jimmy said. 

"I think that this is the place." Buck called. Lou groaned this was the saloon with the bartender that liked to yell. "You commin' Lou?"

Inside the bar was dark and smoky, the riders walked over to the bar and the bartender snarled at Lou. "I told you I ain't seen girl that looked like the one you described. Why don't' you just go away?"

"We ain't looking for a girl this time. Where can we find a man called Curtis?" Jimmy ordered the man. He didn't appreciate the tone the man had used with Lou. The bartender pointed to a man playing poker at one of the tables. Jimmy turned and walked toward the man.

Eating trail dust wasn't Oliver Hudson's idea of a good time but he had been doing it for a full week. Each day his touch with reality slipped a little more. By the time he had rode into Buffalo he had convinced himself that Rayne was being held prisoner and James Butler Hickok was the one that had her hidden. His hatred for Hickok was almost as great as his 'love' for Rayne there were many times that he had to stop himself from sneaking up on the group of sleeping riders and putting a bullet in the man's head. 

The loyalty that the Lieutenant should have felt for the army was gone and the only thing that matter to him was getting what he thought of as his, meaning Rayne. He thought of her as his a precious jewel that he had to have, to, own, to possess. And it was certain death for anyone to try to take that from him. The thought that she wouldn't want him never crossed his mind. As far as he was concerned the incident in front of Tompkins store and his equivocating wanted posters had never happened. It was Hickok who had taken away his jewel and Oliver was going to get her back. 

Chapter 26

There was something funny going on in the little town of Sweetwater and Marshal Teaspoon Hunter had just figured out what it was. Lt. Hudson had made up the entire episode of Rayne killing a man, just a Teaspoon had suspected. Now Teaspoon could arrest the man on fraud, abuse of power and numerous other charges, if only he could find the man. The Lieutenant was missing. The army had told Teaspoon that Hudson had left a few days ago on private business. That was what was disturbing Teaspoon, he was sure that Hudson somehow had gone after Rayne and that he knew where Rayne was. Hudson was an underhanded man and Teaspoon worried about what he would do if he found Rayne.

The men stopped playing poker when Jimmy laid his had on the table in front of Curtis. "You, Curtis" he said.

"Who's asking?" The dirty man asked as spoke his teeth were blackened with age. He looked up at Jimmy and tried to intimidate the younger man with nastiness. 

"It doesn't matter what my name is. What happened to your partner?" He asked the miner unimpressed by the man's lack of hygiene. Yona growled at the man and bared her teeth.

"Get out of my face, kid." Curtis turned back to his game.

Jimmy flipped the table back and kicked the man's chair so that it faced him then pointed one of the colts at the man's head. "Jimmy," Lou warned. She was surprised by Jimmy action but he didn't seem hear her. 

"I asked you what happened to your partner." It was as if Jimmy was looking at himself from somewhere outside and he knew he was overreacting but he couldn't' stop himself.

"Some bitch killed him." The man stuttered; his eyes focused on the barrel of Jimmy's gun.

"What did she look like?" Lou asked the man sternly.

"I don't know. I didn't get a good look." Jimmy cocked his gun. "Okay, Long legs, good on top, nice horse."

"What kind of horse?" Lou asked ignoring the other comments the man made.

"Big sorrel, blonde main and tail. Then that bitch shot me in the arm and killed Douglas."

"It's Rayne." Buck said. 

"Where were you when this happened?" Lou's eyes darted from Jimmy to the man. 

"'Bout fifty miles north of here." He answered hoping to get rid of these young boys but Jimmy wasn't done.

"Why did she shot you're partner?" He asked.

"I don't know why, she was just a bitch. Why else do women do what they do?" Curtis shrugged.

"Don't lie to me." Jimmy growled. "Why did she shot your partner?"

"Don't know."

"Listen Mister, if you don't tell me you're going to join you partner." Jimmy's gun rested on the Curtis' forehead.

"Fine, fine. Me and Douglas were messing with some squaw and she didn't like it. I don't know what the problem was it just some Indian." Curtis grinned wickedly. "Maybe she was just jealous. She must have just wanted what ol' Curtis got between his legs. Just like all the--"

Curtis didn't get to finish his sentence; Jimmy slammed his fist into the older man's head catching Curtis off guard. The miner fell forward completely unconscious. Jimmy holstered his gun and walked out of the saloon. "Ya'll just going to stand out there. Come on we're going to find Rayne." 

Buck and Lou looked at each other with raised eyebrows but remained silent as they walked out following Jimmy. Buck had never seen his friend act like this but he was glad that they knew they were on the right track. He thought about what the man had said about Rayne shooting a man for attacking that Indian squaw and his respect for the missing woman knew no bounds. 

"Jimmy," Lou called as the cowboy jumped up on his horse. "Don't you think we should stay here for the night. It's going to be dark soon."

"You can stay here if you want to." He looked down at the young woman. "But I'm going. You can come if you want to."

"Let's go Lou. There ain't no way that he's going to stay here." Buck followed Jimmy.

She jumped up on Lightning's back and walked her horse a little behind the boys. While they rode out of town Louie's thoughts were on Kid. Her love for the man was so strong that there wasn't a moment that went by when she didn't think of him. The way he talked or walked or smiled when she walked into the room. She thought about the times that something happened had she couldn't get to him or be with him and remembered how crazy with worry she would get. And then she thought about how oddly Jimmy was acting. 

Lou wanted to find Rayne more than anything. Rayne was the first girl friend that she had that was anywhere near her age. Not trying to belittle the friendship that she has with Rachel or Emma who were very important to her. But Rayne thought kind of the same way that she did, Rayne didn't have the years of experience over her that Rachel and Emma had, and she could listen for hours about the problems that Lou had. Yes, Lou wanted to find Rayne but not for the same reasons that Jimmy did.

A few days ago when Lou asked Jimmy what was between him and Rayne, he had said that he was looking of her like he would for any friend. But there was something more in Jimmy's eyes; a quiet desperation hung over him. The way that Jimmy had taken care of that miner in the bar and the way that he had acted with the marshal was all that Lou needed to interpret what the desperation was. Jimmy was acting the same way that she acted when Kid was missing. "Does that mean that Jimmy cares about Rayne as more than a friend?" A smile crossed her face. As if Jimmy knew that she was thinking of him, he turned and looked at her. She tried to hide her smile but couldn't, he gave her a funny look and turned back around.

Chapter 27

Rayne looked outside the window of her sack. The glass had been gone for quiet a long time but she didn't mind. All day long she just walked around the forest. She had found a tiny stream a quarter of a mile from the cabin and visited it almost everyday. For food she caught rabbits, fished, and found wild vegetation. Loki ran free came whenever Rayne whistled for him. She never bothered with a saddle and rode bareback around the area. The quiet was much welcomed and it was peaceful now that she was alone. Though there were time when she could swear that someone was watching her. There were signs of others around, a single track in the dirt, a too quiet forest, small things. Rayne just assumed that it was Indians and that if she didn't bother them they wouldn't bother her.

Most of the time the silent days were a blessing. The only responsibility that she had was to find food for herself. There was no one that she had to talk to, no one she had to face. Every few minutes she would look around and wish that Yona was near. During the day she could keep all her memories away. Memories of what she had done in her life, what she had seen, what had been done to her. All of them would stay away, during the day. But at night, while she slept, they would all come back. 

Sometimes in her dreams she would see her mom and they would be sad. Other times she would dream about Lou and the others and they would be pleasant. There were times when only Jimmy was in them standing looking at her and those dreams confused her. But there were other nights when nightmares would wake her up in a cold sweet. Nightmares where she couldn't move because someone or something was on her, holding her down, suffocating her, then she would waken gulping for air. Why couldn't she just forget the past and everything in it?

Yona grew more and more restless as the days passed. There were times that she would run ahead of the horses and would only come back when Jimmy called her. At night Yona would pace around for hours before settling down and then she would stare off into the darkness before she fell asleep. 

"What's wrong with Yona?" Lou asked one night from her place on the ground. They had stopped at the base of a rocky hill. The ground was full of stones and Lou was looking forward to sleeping on a real bed.

"She knows." Buck answered.

"Knows what?"

"Knows that Rayne's close." Jimmy told his friend and then rolled over and went to sleep.

The dog couldn't take it any more. She was too anxious to find her owner. Yona knew that her mistress had been here but it wasn't because of the faint familiar smell that hit her nose every now and then. It was a sixth sense that was pulling her toward Rayne, and she meant to follow it. The people were taking to long so that night after everyone had gone to sleep the big black dog got up and walked out in the woods. Only once did she turn back to look at the dying fire and the three sleeping people and then took off running.

Jimmy watched as the dog ran off. He didn't need to even think about what he was doing. With the way Yona had been acting the past few days there wasn't a doubt in his mind that the dog could find Rayne. Quickly he went to his horse and saddled it. 

Buck woke up and was quickly on his feet, Lou followed him. "Jimmy where you going?" 

"Yona's run off. I think she's following Rayne's trail. Ya'll stay here. I'm going to follow her."

"We'll go with you." Lou offered.

"No, it'll take to long for us to pack up the camp. Yona's already got a good lead. Sleep now, follow me in the morning." Jimmy finished saddling his horse and jumped on. "It will be easier to follow my trail tomorrow than Yona's." And with that he rode away.

"Fine." Lou said. She didn't like the way that Jimmy had just taken off but what he had said made sense. Kind of. "I guess we are going back to bed." Buck shrugged his shoulders and went back to his blanket. But Lou stared off after Jimmy. "Good luck Jimmy."

The Lieutenant's white horse walked through the forest. Oliver had been ready to settle down for the evening when he looked down into the valley were the rider's were resting. He was always behind them and as far as he knew they had no idea. By chance he had looked over at the right time and seen Hickok riding away and didn't think twice before following him. Now he was traveling out of the way of he remaining riders and following the solitary one.

"Yona." Jimmy called to the night air and then whistled. He had been running after the dog for almost an hour and now he wasn't sure he was still on the same trail. "Yona." The house neighed and Jimmy turned and looked behind him, he had the strangest feeling that he was being watched but he didn't see anyone. A rustle from the bushes in front of him caught his attention. Yona stepped out with her tail between her legs. "Yona, where is she? Go get her. Find Rayne." The dog's tail began to wag and she gave a little yelp and ran off, Jimmy urged the horse forward and followed the dog.

"We're getting closer." Jimmy thought to himself as the sun came up. Something inside him was pulling him toward Rayne. Nothing like this had ever happened to him before. This amazing unbelievable need to see her overwhelmed him. He kept trying to tell himself that it was merely a necessity to find a friend but it was getting harder and harder to believe that. Every time that he closed his eyes he saw her. Sometimes her hair would be down around her and her gray eyes open and happy. The dimple deepened on her cheek as she smiled widely. It was an expression that he had often hoped to see on her face but hadn't. Sometimes he would see her with her jaw jutted out, eyebrows furrowed and her eyes cold. It was a look that he had seen many times, one of stubbornness and distrust and somewhere underneath all of the animosity one of fear. 

For some reason the day that she had run away jumped into his head. He remembered the feel of her body against his. She had fought him like the devil-possessed but he still remembered how perfectly she fit with him. Her back was pressed to his chest and her head just under his chin. Jimmy closed his eyes tightly and then opened them, trying to dislodge the memory, but he could still feel her in his arms. "You're losing it, Hickok." He told himself. 

A sound behind him caught his attention. He turned his head to see if there was anything out of the ordinary, but couldn't see anything. His eyes searched every visible part of the forest and still saw nothing. An odd feeling of someone watching him washed over him, it was so strong that he almost turned his horse around to have a look. Then Yona barked loudly in front of him and ran off into the woods. "Yona, wait." But the dog ran on. "This is great. Where did that damn dog get too?" He got off his horse and began to search the ground for signs of the dog.

Yona was gone. She caught a strong smell of Rayne and began to follow it. The thought of seeing her beloved Rayne was stronger than her thoughts of the man that was following her. From the scent in the air Yona, could tell that Rayne was living around here somewhere. There were old and new scents intermingled together. At the bank of a small stream she stood in the mud and sniffed the ground then bounded across the stream to the other side. When she got across she began barking joyfully, she knew were Rayne was.

In the distance Jimmy heard the dog's happy barks and immediately turned the palomino around and headed toward the sound of the dog. The forest was so thick that it took him ages to pick his way through the brush. Jimmy wasn't the only one who heard the noise; Hudson also began making his way to the sound.

Chapter 28

She sat on the ground and twirled blades of grass between her fingers. The sun was over head and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, Rayne lay on the ground and stared up at the blue sky. Loki was near her; the sound of the giant horse munching on daisies was calming. With closed eyes she listened to the sounds around her: grasshoppers chirping, birds singing, dogs barking. "What?" Her mind was playing tricks on her she thought that she heard a dog that sounded just like Yona. Quickly she sat up and looked around the clearing that her house rested in. With greedy eyes she searched deep in the forest all around trying to see anything but couldn't. The dog's barking became louder.

Rayne stood up and began turning trying to found the source of the barking. It couldn't be Yona she told herself but she whistled anyway. Off in the distance she saw motion and squinted her eyes to see it better. The motion got closer and Rayne blinked her eyes in disbelief then began to run toward it. "Yona? It is!" There wasn't a time in her life that she could remember ever being happier to see anyone or anything.

At the bank of the little stream Jimmy stared at the dog's prints in the mud quickly rode his horse across it. On the other bank the dog prints mixed with hoof prints and Jimmy knew that he was close to Rayne. Jimmy rode through the forest as fast as his horse would go.

The giant dog jumped at her mistress and covered the woman's face with wet kisses. Yona's tail wagged furiously as she barked happily. She let the cherished woman push her away and sit up. With happy eyes and a still wagging tail Yona stared up at Rayne. The fact that the woman had left her and had run away didn't even cross the dog's mind. All she knew was she was finally where she belonged again.

"How did you get here?" Rayne asked as she buried her hands in the dog's fur. Yona barked and Rayne laughed. The young woman had missed the dog so much and now all she could do was laugh. She laughed as she pushed the dog playfully. When the dog came back to her she pushed it again. It barked happily at the familiar game. Then all of a sudden Rayne pulled the dog and put her face in the dog's fur and smiled. "I missed you, you crazy dog?" Yona looked at Rayne with her tongue hanging over the side of her mouth. Rayne was sure that if dogs could smile Yona was doing it right now.

Jimmy watched Rayne play with Yona. Her hair was loose around her like a wave of darkness around the woman, with bits of leaves and grasses in it. The woman's clothes were a little tattered and her boots were lying on the ground next to her. As she laughed her whole face brightened and her cheeks pinkened. The dimple on her cheek was a deep as the Grand Canyon and her smile was as long. But what Jimmy was focused on were Rayne's eyes. Usually the gray eyes were guarded and sullen but right now they were the complete opposite. Even from where Jimmy was at the edge of the clearing he could see how happy they were. 

With the leaves in her hair, tattered clothes, and no shoes Jimmy had to wonder if she was real and not a forest spirit. Rayne's reunion with Yona had taken ten years off of her and she looked like the child that se never got to be, as she played with the dog. All of a sudden a wall of emotion fell on him and he watched Rayne with new eyes. The sound of her laugher was the most beautiful music that he had ever heard. The sky had brightened because of her smile. And the earth moved with the mere sight of her. That was when he knew it. He didn't know when it happened but somewhere, somehow he had fallen in love with the woman-child in front of him. His heart twisted as he watched her play. 

Now it all made sense, why he pried into her life by asking Tilly all the questions, why he had been so frightened for her safety during the gunfight, why he had ridded like the devil was at his heels when he was looking for her. They all made sense now. This was where his heart had been pulling him. With Rayne in his sight he felt complete, whole. A slow smile spread across his face and he stepped toward the woman. 

He stared at her eyes even though she hadn't seen him yet. Jimmy was completely vulnerable. This woman had the power to break his heart with just a simple look or she could make him feel more alive than he ever had before. As she turned her face up to him he held his breath. This was the moment of truth.

In her joy over Yona she hadn't noticed the figure in the distance. Motion in front of her caught her eye. She raised her eyes to see who else was there. When she saw the man standing her heart stopped. It was as every dream that she had about him had come true. There he was just standing there watching her just like in her dreams. Had he gotten taller since she had last seen him? Because right now it seemed that Jimmy could reach up and touch the sun. She hadn't realized that she had missed him until this moment. Almost like she was looking forward to the lecture that he was assuredly going to give her for running away. 

When she looked into his eyes they were searching hers with an intensity that scared her. Rayne caught her breath. She didn't understand what was happening but it felt like time had stopped all around them. Then she remembered that she had just lost her solitude and peace and her face hardened into it's usually countenance. 

The return of her regular unemotional expression didn't bother Jimmy too much because he was walking on air. For in those brief moments when she had first seen him she didn't glare or scowl. Instead she stared at him openly with innocent eyes that would have put an angel to shame. Those fleeting seconds were all that he needed because during them he saw her, as if for he first time. The hard shell that she had encased herself in wasn't real. Underneath all of that was a scared woman who didn't know what it meant for someone to care about her. Everyone who was supposed to didn't and the ones that did care about her didn't show it or they left her alone. Well, that was going to change. If it took his whole life Jimmy was going to show her that he cared for her more than he cared for his own life and that he wouldn't leave her for anything. He smiled broadly and walked up to her.

"Hey Jimmy. Thanks for bringing Yona." Rayne said. Jimmy had a weird smile on his face that made Rayne uncomfortable. "How did you find me?"

"Wasn't hard, you were easier to track than a city slicker with a broken leg. The only way it could have been easier was if you made a map." He teased her and with immense joy watched the anger color her cheeks. She was even more beautiful when she was angry.

With flashing gray eyes she snarled at the man. "Well it sure took you long enough." She shot back with her hands on her hips.

"Did you miss me that much?" It was like a new world had opened up and Jimmy was seeing it for the first time. It was going to take a while to get Rayne to realize that she cared for him but it was going to be fun up until then. All he wanted to do was take her in his arms and hold her there forever. But he knew that would only scare her so he opted for the only other male response to love and decided to make her so angry she couldn't think.

"I didn't miss you at all. I missed my dog." She replied angrily.

He smiled knowingly. All of a sudden the forty-eight hours that he had gone with out sleep caught up with him. Now that he had seen her and knew that she was safe he lost the adrenaline that was pushing him on. "Okay. Well I rode all night do you have somewhere I could sleep for a while?" Jimmy didn't wait for an answer as he walked toward the house. "Buck and Lou are behind me. They should be here in a few hours." 

"Fine." She said and began walking away. He had been near her for five minutes and she was already angry and confused. 

"Rayne," She turned at the sound of her name. "I missed you too." Jimmy said in a low soft voice and walked inside.

For some reason the sound of his voice say those words make Rayne's chest hurt. "What's wrong with you Kincade?" She asked herself and then as she did with most things ignored it and turned her attention back to Yona.

From a deep part of the forest beady eyes followed Rayne wherever she went. If it was possible she had become more irresistible than Hudson remember. His gazed lingered on the gentle sway of Rayne's hips as she moved around. His eyes darkened with passion and it took all his control not to steal the woman away that very moment but years of military training had taught the man patience. Oliver would wait and bide his time. That damnable Hickok was 'guarding' her too closely and that demon hadn't left her side. He also knew that there were two riders only a few hours behind them. 

If he took Rayne now and killed Hickok he wouldn't have enough of a head start from the other two. As long as he stayed down wind of he dog he should be okay hiding in the woods. The nights were a little cold but nothing that he couldn't stand. Slowly a thought formed in his head and he took one last look at Rayne. "Soon, my devil, we will be together." Then he ran to his horse and rode away.


End file.
